It can be difficult to talk about gratitude in a business context.

I think it’s because it’s seen as a soft skill but also business is usually a lot about solving and preventing problems.

And when you’re consumed with problems it’s easy to be consumed with everything that’s ‘wrong’, which kind of makes the whole gratitude thing more difficult…

“You mean I’m doing it to myself?, the leader said.

We were in the middle of an advisory/coaching session and my client had been telling me repeatedly about the difficult situation they found themselves in – and the challenging people they had to deal with.

Yet this was a re-curring theme over the months we had worked together i.e. there was always something or someone annoying them…

“There’s a few reasons why I don’t see it happening”

These were the words spoken by a smart woman I was working with a few years ago, in response to me asking if she thought she could ever be a CEO.

She was very convincing in her argument as to why she couldn’t get to the top spot.

But it turned out that despite her comments she actually had a huge desire to get to the role.

With everything going on, it feels strange to say I took a few days off… but I did.

It was a bank holiday in Ireland, so I bolted on some extra time and enjoyed the incredible sunshine. And it was a complete switch off – so much so, I even gave myself permission not to send an email on Monday! 🙂

But not to let me completely off the hook this week, here’s something a little different.

What many people don’t realise is that optimism can be learned. And now is the time to step into it. (See ‘Learned Optimism’ by Martin Seligman)

What if you believed a much better future was coming? And that you could help create it?

We need to be in touch with reality. But we also need to be positive shapers of the future.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve most likely heard of ‘Normal People’, the Irish drama based on Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel.

The BBC series of the book has become a smash hit around the world, breaking all sorts of records. For example, the new series received 16.2 million views in it’s first week on the BBC streaming service. The opening week record was previously held by the first season of Killing Eve, which received 10.8 million total requests in its first week.

I wasn’t going to watch it until a friend of mine I wouldn’t have expected to like it, said he really did. So I was curious.

“I’ve just realised something very big.”

The words were from a very smart and experienced leader and we had been discussing their approach to how the interacted with their staff. He had been silent for over a minute as he digested something I’d shared around the inner approach to business.

“I’ve been focused on ‘being right’. But I should be focused on ‘getting it right’.”

It was a beautiful way of saying something that’s prevalent for many.

The word ‘contagion’ has been more prevalent over the last few weeks because of the threat of the corona virus.

Contagion is defined as the communication of disease from one person or organism to another by close contact.

But have you ever considered the possibility of ‘mood contagion’ in your work and life?

I see it daily with leaders I work with and it has a massive bearing on organisational performance yet despite that, it’s rarely discussed in leadership training.

If you’re living in Ireland, you’re very aware of the recent political changes that happened at the national elections over a week ago.

If you’re not living here, the very short summary is that there was a huge surge in support for Sinn Féin, the socialist, left-wing Irish republican political party, which has re-shaped the Irish political landscape.

“I hate where I’m at.” she said. “Tell me more”, I replied. She did and as she described it, it didn’t sound great. “So what are you going to do about it?” , I asked. Blank look, and this from someone who is smart and perceived to be very successful, strong and confident.