“Optimism must be based in your sense of what can best how people and organisations grow. Unbridled, unprincipled optimism is of no use to anyone if, like lemmings, it takes us over a cliff or doesn't lead to growth. A wonderful friend and mentor of mine Thomas Stianos told me years ago that the function of a leader is to provide hope for the future. These days I modify that quote a bit - to me the function of leadership is to ensure an abundance of opportunity for people. It's not enough to give hope, or have hope (unbridled optimism) - you must create the abundance that creates the opportunities for growth. This is hard work especially when things become tough (as they always will at some point). Fortunately, "abundance thinking" encourages people to share, and to give of their own energies and this is turn creates optimism. So breaking all this down, I think you need to first create opportunities for growth, people need to see that, believe in it, and then you can build the abundance. Optimism then flows from that.”