A leader’s role is to define reality, then give hope. ~Napoleon Bonaparte

Anger, hate, and violence are all words that seem to embody our society more frequently and more intensely. Everything from mass shootings to what may seem like the mundane – one driver angrily yelling at another driver as I attempt to calmly walk my dog down the sidewalk. It’s easy for us to say that all this anger and hate is “out there.” That how we lead organizations is disconnected from what’s happening in our society.

Given the hate-filled violent events of the past couple of weeks, my mind has frequently gone to the work of Tom Rath and the Gallup organization reported in the book Strengths-Based Leadership. They surveyed more than 10,000 people and asked them to list three words that best describe what the leader with the most positive influence contributes to their life. This was an open-ended question, no drop-down menu of words from which to choose. Distinct patterns emerged. Followers’ four basic needs of leaders: trust, compassion, stability, and hope!

Imagine if leaders in organizations all throughout our country took this to heart. What if leaders began to intentionally and deliberately focus on instilling trust, expressing compassion, providing stability, and giving hope! How could that not impact the lens we use to view our world, our society, and ourselves!?

Educator, author, and speaker Angela Maiers said,

At every moment of the day, we are either making the world a better place or making it worse. Our thoughts spread out and become contagious, either positively infecting others or unleashing a plague of negativity, doubt, and fear. We have the power to help lift someone up or to bring them down. How we interact with those we meet may be the catalyst that sets someone into an emotional tailspin or the spark that provides them with encouragement and HOPE for a better day… or maybe even a better life.

I see far too many “leaders” who send their followers into an emotional tailspin. They bark out orders, make demands, focus on the negative, use fear to manipulate. Or sometimes what I think is even worse, just simply never provide any positive encouragement, at all. Yet what we all need from the influential leaders in our lives is: TRUST, COMPASSION, STABILITY, and HOPE. That’s not one author’s opinion; that’s scientific research coming directly from followers.

Napoleon Bonaparte also said, “A leader is a dealer in hope.” You may not be hateful or angry, but are you a dealer in hope? If we, as leaders, focused on being dealers in hope, imagine the potential repercussions both inside and outside our organizations.