Importance of hope within the workplace

Tack TMI, 19th July 2021

The past year has disrupted businesses and homes everywhere. The situation was not only unexpected but has created a lot of uncertainty and confusion going forward within companies and the workplace.

The Dalai Lama once said that, if we lose hope, that’s the real disaster. So the disaster is not the disaster itself, but the fact that when you lose hope in a disaster it can truly pull you down. To succeed one must have hope, apply energy, build resilience, have optimism, and anticipate the best possible outcome. Success both in terms of achieving business goals and also individual employee mental health and satisfaction.

Hope can be defined as the rainbow of the mind

It lifts spirits and makes you think of all that is possible, even when you’re feeling defeated. Simply put, hope is often defined as optimism with a plan, with the determination to do whatever it takes to achieve what it is that you set out to accomplish.

There are three elements that define hope:

Hope is the capacity to see yourself in the future and to see something better or different or more appealing for you than what it is that you are experiencing currently.
Hope is the sense that no matter what happens, it is going to be okay in the end. However, you must also make sure that you take into account the reality of the situation.
Hope is the belief that you are in fact able to do what it takes to achieve your goals. That you have it in your capacity to overcome the barriers and obstacles that try to stand in your way and will come out at the other end, the way you hoped you would.

Hope in the workplace

Hope is one of the most important characteristics that any employee can have in the workplace. If you want to be an effective leader then you will not only take the concept seriously but do it well. A few words that may be connected to hope in the workplace are:

Direction
Faith; and
Guidance

It’s all about having a sense of where the company is going, a way to manage current pressures, and a good and practical idea of potential outcomes that may emerge. Your employees that embody and embrace hope will be more confident and resilient through challenging times.

A lack of hope in the workplace may put your staff under more stress and they might demonstrate more anxiety about the future. It’s evident that a more hopeful workplace is also a happier and healthier one. Your employees require building hope to thrive and so you can all work together to reach your company goals. It’s your job as the employer and leader to encourage your employees, prepare them for challenges, and help them identify pathways for making sound decisions. You’ll not only reach your goals more effectively when hope is present but will bring about a better frame of mind and boost mental health within your company.

How to apply hope yourself

Hope isn’t just about achieving a goal, or having a positive view of some goal in the future and a determination towards it. It’s all about achieving superordinate goals as a society, as a country, and being able to transform fully. It’s essential that all leaders within the company are hopeful and that this positive energy cascades down to their employees.

Larry Page, best known as the co-founder of Google has said, “You have to be a little silly about the goals you are going to set. It’s about ‘having a healthy disregard for the impossible’. You should try to do things that most people would not.” There have been outstanding outcomes and results when companies get employees to feel inspired to do what seems at the time to be impossible.

One of the important aspects that is helpful to take into consideration is that when you’re fixated on particular goals, then hoping that those particular goals will be achieved can and will likely lead to significant disappointments. However, accepting the reality of a particular situation when the circumstances are such that there are no more grounds to hope that those particular outcomes are achievable, then the process of accepting this particular kind of hope empowers you to release the energy and creative thinking you need to create a different form of hope.

Also, building on positive feelings is so important in the workplace and with hope and leadership. You must work hard to know your individual strengths and how your strengths can contribute in a more meaningful way. For many, there’s a lot of work to be done in the area of building hope, understanding the emotion, and understanding the concept of hope. It’s said to be one of the most powerful resources that people have today and will have a positive impact on achievement and how well your employees and organization thrive and if you can achieve your long-term goals.

Hope is a complex and involved concept but a very powerful one too. It’s important to take a broad perspective in hard times, and then to also remember that there’s more to life than you can grasp on a normal afternoon. It’s also essential to follow your heart and passion and let your drive motivate you to continue working hard and to turn to hope when there’s nothing else that may aid you in reaching your goals and finding success.

For more information about Tack TMI’s approach to employee motivation, and the programmes we are delivering with Global clients to grow leaders who build hope to achieve success in their teams, please get in touch.

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