Great leaders take a stand and call for others to come along on the journey. They point towards hope and say “There we go! That’s where we need to head.”
These impactful leaders become a beacon of hope for those they lead.
While leading will wear you out and take you down some dark paths, the job of a leader is to point to a brighter tomorrow. One that others have a hard time seeing.
That’s why they’re not leading. They can’t see the better days ahead.
You can. Even in your darkest hours. You know there’s something good ahead. And you want to lead others on a purposeful journey.
Hope Is What People Need
Getting things done and advancing is critical to being seen as a good leader. Leaders are people who move others to the next stage of life.
However, that’s not where leadership stops. And you’ll have challenges getting your people to that next stage if you’re missing something.
Leaders run into trouble when they fail to give people hope.
When people lack hope they:
Can’t see there’s still tomorrow
Don’t believe they can get the job done
Feel powerless
Give up trying
Hope is a powerful tool in leadership. By giving those you lead hope, you can change the way they view a situation.
A dead-end suddenly becomes a challenge to overcome. The hours behind the desk, toiling away, has a reason. Suddenly, they feel like they’re able to continue moving forward.
But you, as the leader, have to be willing to give them hope. You have to be the beacon of hope that shows them there’s still more to come.
Become The Beacon Of Hope
You know that you’ve got to be a strong tower of hope. Someone who looks unshakable in the face of adversity.
It’s hard, though. Because you have doubts and you don’t always have hope.
Yet you can do your part to be the lighthouse of hope your team needs.
Speak positively:
One of the quickest ways leaders extinguish hope among their team is by speaking negatively. When you talk down about the task ahead of your team, you give them a reason to fear.
The leader doesn’t believe we can do this. He thinks this job is pointless, so we will too. There’s no sense in doing this as it won’t add any value.
Your negative words seep into those you lead. They will feed off of your positivity or your negativity.
Let’s give those we lead something positive to follow.
Act with confidence:
Leaders who give hope not only talk with positivity, they act with confidence. They see the challenges and know the road won’t be easy.
Still, they have a vision and they move confidently towards that goal.
By moving forward with conviction, others begin to buy into your vision. They see your hope for the future and hop on board.
Let’s act with confidence so those we lead know we have hope in what we’re talking about.
Continue after failure:
A hard reality is that we will fail. The vision we cast may not be where we end up. We may wind up slightly off-course.
However, even after getting off-course, great leaders continue. They redirect their efforts. But in the right direction.
They don’t let failures stop them. They also don’t let failures stop their team.
If someone fails, they go back, dust them off, and encourage them to continue the good fight.
When a leader moves forward after failure, their actions tells others that defeat isn’t the end. They can continue on.
They MUST continue on.
Let’s continue to pick ourselves, and others, up after we fail. Show others that there’s more to come.
Being a beacon of hope is a duty of leadership. We can’t lead without hope.
I know you can be that beacon. You can bring others to that place where they feel hopefully for where you’re leading the organization.
Question: How are you being a beacon of hope? Share your strategy in the comment section below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.