This event, The Leadership Forum at Silver Bay annually brings leaders together to discuss the most pressing human issues. We’re all there to reinforce our shared belief that leadership matters if we are to forge a healthier planet. I led a workshop on executive vitality and resilience — but I walked away with something much larger. The event renewed my sense that there are leaders everywhere inspired to make a positive impact through their organizations, their communities, and their lives.

That got me to thinking about inspiration itself. How fertile is our everyday life and work for creating the sort of inspiration and motivation I found at Silver Bay? Not very, suggests NeuroAnthropology.net — a website focused on a “greater understanding of the encultured brain and body.” They say that we’re bombarded today with pessimism rather than optimism, no matter what form of media (T.V., radio, newspapers, social media) or what topic (celebrities, politics, war, the economy).

Such negative messages are known to reinforce poor eating habits, unhealthy body images in women, and violence in our children. And these messages are baking a cynical cultural bias into how we see the world and experience our lives. When we’re stewing in this unhappy cauldron, it’s easy to miss inspiration — unless you actively seek it.

I, for one, believe inspiration surrounds us. Finding it is less about what’s happening outside us; more about what we let in. At the Leadership Forum, it came for me in the form of Mark Johnson, executive director of the Fellowship for Reconciliation. His interfaith organization is devoted to replacing war, violence, economic injustice, and racism with justice, peace, and freedom. As our assemblage of leaders sweated through the heat wave, guzzling water and ineffectively fanning ourselves with our notepads, Mark asked us: “How can we build a caring society and foster hope for future generations in a world that often seems hopeless?”

It only now occurs to me that in many situations we curse such sticky heat, the nuisance of all that sweat dripping off us. But in other situations, say a nice summer hike or an exhilarating bike ride, we revel in our body’s same reaction. One person’s frustration is another’s opportunity and adventure. With Mark’s words, I found the nuisance of the heat physically shifting: my mind and body became itchy to help discover answers to the questions he posed.

In a similar shift, my travel buddy and I discovered our room at the Forum wasn’t air conditioned. That made it an unbearable 15 degrees hotter than the outside’s stifling temperatures. We rigged a homemade swamp cooler in the room’s window, we wore damp towels around our necks to keep ourselves sane, and our initial gripes gave way to laughter and moments of inspired creativity.

Even in the people, places, and times you’d least expect it, inspiration is waiting to be found. The day after my Adirondack adventure, a 5:00 AM phone call woke me up. After another heart attack, my father was at a distant hospital undergoing cardiac surgery. I spent time with him as he recovered. Though he was shaken by the ordeal, he told me what he’s said ever since I was a kid: “PMA, Renee. PMA.” To us, that means “positive mental attitude.” It’s Dad’s fuel for living.

When we can find laughter and motivation in a heat wave, or positivity in the face of a life-threatening condition, then we’re on the right path. That’s the way to find inspiration even if the media seems to miss it.

Photo by Patrick Hoesly

I just listened to a webinar of late-breaking research about employee engagement and I’m stunned. The bombshell? According to the Human Performance Institute, no less than 65% of employees are “disengaged” or “toxically disengaged” at work. This means a majority of the workforce isn’t fully contributing to — and may even be creating a heavy drag on — their organizations. This news is disturbing enough that I seek out my puppy for consolation, but he is fully engaged… in a nap.

To explain the study’s results further, employee engagement means actively participating — with body, mind, and spirit — in creating a positive culture, high standards, and peak productivity for an organization. Employees who are “toxically disengaged” (a frightening 22%, according to the study) are those whose physical fatigue, emotional disconnectedness, or lack of purpose in work actually produces a negative overall effect on their own vitality and that of their workplace.

For business leaders, this is truly a crisis — a human energy crisis. If there is substance to the study’s numbers (with over 108,500 respondents, it seemed well supported), it proves that we simply are not harnessing what people really have to offer. The crisis extends beyond the general workforce and into the ranks of leadership: as many as 54% of the approximately 12,500 leaders who participated in the study proved to be “disengaged” or “toxically disengaged” as well.

I ask myself (yes, out loud) why so many people are disengaged from their work. The next question scares me a little, so I ask it silently: Am I disengaged, too?

Am I fully engaged in my work today? Talking to myself, fuming about statistics, eyeballing my dog — is this passion or procrastination? I dig deeper: this past year has definitely been fraught with business challenges: declining sales, budget concerns, team members moving on, and feeling at times that I’m trying to squeeze blood from a turnip (my grandmother always warned me of the futility of THAT particular pastime). Sometimes I just get worn down.

If I’m run-down and pessimistic, you can bet that my firm’s team members feel it. Engagement is contagious—and a leader’s engagement doubly so. In fact, in good times and in bad, an employee’s relationship with their manager can make or break the employee’s sense of engagement. If I’m enthusiastic, it can serve as a source of energy and momentum for my whole group. I’m clear that my personal engagement is not the only factor affecting our staff’s morale and performance, but it is definitely a critical one.

(I take another break to visit Trek, my sleeping puppy. Now, THERE’s a living being who experiences total engagement! He brings 100% of himself to the task: playing, chewing, whining, eating, or twitching his way through dreams of endless rabbit chases. No restraint, no hesitation, no indecision. What does he know that we don’t?!)

Luckily for today’s leaders, the best approaches for tapping into employees’ motivations are within easy reach: connect personally with your people, set clear expectations, recognize effort and progress, provide support as a coach and mentor, and help people feel aligned with the larger vision, goals, and mission of the organization. These actions cost you practically nothing in terms of money; instead, they draw on your own time, energy, and attention as a leader.

And there’s the rub: true engagement begins with you. Employees are less likely to be fully engaged unless you are engaged with body, mind, and spirit, too. So, to get started, repeat after me:

You see where these mantras are going: feel free to adapt your own. If you say them out loud regularly — and especially on the down days — you will find the very process engages you more fully in your work. (You may also find people looking at you funny… until you get a puppy to whom you appear to be talking!)

I called him last week.  I figured this job hunt — his first in 25 years — would be a crushing experience. As the model of productivity and efficiency he’s become, I was sure he’d be relentlessly pursuing his next job. I certainly didn’t expect to hear the roaring crowds of a baseball game in the background! A little confused, I asked: “How’s the job search going?”

“Fine,” he said. “No job yet, but I’m taking advantage of all this time to go on some trips, spend time with the kids, and get healthier.” Wow. How many freshly laid-off leaders take that attitude? What is it, I found myself asking after the call, that helps some leaders thrive while others buckle in the face of adversity? How is it that some leaders use crisis to ENHANCE their lives, rather than letting it get them down?

In my brother’s case — and in the leaders I’ve worked with — there are many things that contribute to this resilient spirit, but none more powerfully than optimism. To me optimism is an attitude that says: “Maybe I can’t fully control this situation, but I can do something positive about it.” There may be a few lucky souls born with this rosy outlook hardwired, but for the rest of us, optimism is a skill we can learn and improve throughout our lives. A place to start is the Optimism Test developed by psychologist and positivity guru, Dr. Martin Seligman (it’s free and quick: just register, then click “Optimism Test”).

There are many ways to strengthen your inner optimist: books, videos, workshops, coaching, disciplined practice, and constant reaffirmation that positive thinking is a good thing. Sometimes optimism gets a bad rap: “The problem with being an optimist is you can never be pleasantly surprised!” But far from an everything-will-be-great passivism, the optimist is the hard-working visionary within us all. In good times, the optimist sees even brighter futures ahead and works toward them. In tough times, this “make the most of it” perspective is not merely helpful, but critical to our productivity and progress.

Colin Powell once said: “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” I like that! It rings true with my experience that few things are as powerful in business, and in life, as the energy of human optimism. In some cases the source of our own optimism comes from others’ inspiring stories.

Consider 30-year-old golfer and PGA fan D.J. Gregory. Born with cerebral palsy, he heard from his doctors at a very early age that he would never walk. A stirring ESPN video captured the optimism that has propelled D.J. to walk 44 PGA Tour courses on his own two legs.

On the business side, my friend and colleague Peter Senge believes unrelentingly in the power of global corporations (despite their imperfections) to foster a healthier, more sustainable planet through their actions. This buoyant optimism, in an era of anti-corporate sentiments, has propelled Peter to #35 on Fast Company’s list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Why does optimism work, particularly in situations that seem disastrous? Optimism literally changes our perception of the situation: whether we’re faced with crippling illnesses, layoffs, or corporate integrity that seems to be on the decline. In these times the ability to take positive steps, even when we can’t control all of our circumstances, becomes a true leader’s vision.

I’ve led Wisdom Works for years now, through all the ups and downs a business leader rides: Working with great clients. (Saying goodbye to great clients when our work is complete.) Having incredible business partners. (Losing incredible business partners.) Feeling so fired up about our firm’s mission that I could burst with joy. (Losing my joyful perspective at times.) Through thick and thin, like my brother, my most reliable asset has been the instinct to make the most of whatever life hands me.

And speaking of my brother… in this era of nearly unprecedented unemployment, when you find yourself looking to recruit top talent, consider their ability to look on the bright side. If they take your call from a ballpark, munching popcorn with their kids on a weekday afternoon, hire ‘em!

Photo by werkunz1