Optimist at Heart

Everyone has their own unique way of communicating. And it’s important for leaders to understand that and also understand perhaps their own unconscious bias about that. Can you describe an instance where you felt perhaps your own communication style was misunderstood? How did that play out? And how has that influenced how you lead as a result?

I am naturally optimistic. And I think that is something that has been misinterpreted at times in my career. I think that I have maybe come across at times in a way that could give people the feeling that I’m not hearing them, or I’m not hearing the reality of the situation. And so I think what that has taught me is that I need to, one, always make certain I’m getting different perspectives, the other is making certain in my communication style, I’m not glossing over issues, because I do really want to understand what the issues are and making certain that when I am very optimistic about a situation, and it may be a business situation or a people situation, that I communicate my optimism. That’s something I continue to remind myself of.