Leading through Uncertainty (Part 4 of 4): Hope is Not a Strategy - or is it?
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”
- Nelson Mandela
This is the fourth and final email in our series, Leading through Uncertainty with Kindness, Resilience, Creativity, and Hope. If you missed any of the previous emails, here are part 1, part 2, and part 3.
When we started this series back in March, we introduced it by saying:
"We believe we are amidst a global “Tale of Two Cities.” It has the potential to bring out the worst of humanity, and in equal measure, the best of humanity—if we lead with our collective capacity to be kind, develop resilience, nurture creativity, and provide hope that we can, and will, get through this crisis together.”
As we enter month four of our altered COVID-19 reality, the best and worst of humanity have been very much in evidence. In addition to the ever-present uncertainty of our lives amidst COVID-19, we have witnessed via video the killing of a fellow human being by a policeman. A policeman whose sworn duty is “To protect with courage. To serve with compassion.” In protest to this and to centuries of injustice, we are witnessing the rise of a collective voice around the world demanding racial justice. There is tremendous hope inherent in this global voice and the actions that individuals and organizations are beginning to take.
The phrase “hope is not a strategy” entered our lexicon some time ago (we were unable to find a source on its origin) and is often used to decry wishful thinking, the wearing of rose-colored glasses, and the way of Pollyanna. Hope gets a bad rap indeed.
But what can we learn from empirical studies of hope? C. R. “Rick” Snyder is a pioneer in the field of positive psychology. His seminal work on the psychology of hope helps us unpack a seemingly “soft” topic into practical strategies we can immediately use to pursue what is important to us. He defines hope as “the perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals (waypower), and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways (willpower).” His research demonstrates that higher hope consistently relates to better outcomes in academics, athletics, physical health, psychological adjustment, and psychotherapy.
You can access his Adult Hope Scale here and for deeper study, we highly recommend his book, Psychology of Hope: You Can Get Here from There.
We came across Synder’s work while reading Brené Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection. In our work coaching leaders, particularly in higher education, the imposter syndrome runs rampant—for students, staff, and faculty. A fixed mindset, perfectionism, and a seemingly “no-failure-allowed” culture does not lend itself readily to something as seemingly “soft” as hope. But Snyder’s work helped us understand why some people thrive amidst adversity and others do not. Hope does not mean adopting wishful thinking, but rather getting clear on your bigger desires and goals and committing to the journey of pursuing them—all while meeting reality with eyes wide open. We were surprised to learn that hope is not a squishy emotion, but rather a cognitive muscle that can be nurtured and developed.
As you plan for the start of perhaps the most uncertain academic year in our lifetime, how might hope help? Here are a few ideas to try:
Get clear on what you want; the change you want to see. Why is it important? How will your life, and the life of others, be better when you have achieved those goals? Establish a broad and meaningful set of goals—make a list. According to Snyder, “[D]on’t put all your eggs in one basket. Instead, take a tip from the high-hope people who diversify their goal investments across many areas of their lives. The task is to make a shopping list of as many goals as you reasonably can generate.”
Dream big. Snyder encourages us to finish this sentence: “There’s no way I could…” Try it and see how this stem phrase can open up your creativity.
Develop a high-willpower internal dialogue. Leverage the CTFAR framework as noted here.
Increase your waypower. Dream big—and take small baby steps towards your goals. What is a tiny and very doable step you might take today towards one of your meaningful goals? Also, isolation is the dream killer. Reach out to others, share your goals, AND share your obstacles. We are wired to solve problems and “we depend on each other’s dreams coming true.” (Barbara Sher)
So it turns out that hope is indeed a strategy. A strategy to get from here to there. We get to co-create together—amidst uncertainty and ambiguity—with hope as an essential touchstone.