David Marques

I started this year with excitement and awe! This feeling of being re-energized for what is ahead is common for most of us when we experience new beginnings. It’s a human condition that can only be explained by the feeling of hope. The expectation for something good and whole to happen. For me hope is more than a feeling but a way of life that can influence our thoughts and actions. It is rooted in my faith journey and recognizing it as a character trait is why I have chosen this as my word of the year.

Hope can have a lasting impression on every aspect of life. I have seen this reality unfold in me as the outlook of hope makes me a better man. This is true in my family life and in my professional setting. With my wife and children, as well as with my co-workers. But speaking of hope at home feels much more natural than in the workplace. I want to change that. This post highlights the importance the character of hope brings to leadership and team building.

Hope brings a positive mindset into your work

The exercise of choosing a word of the year is something I share with my team every January. And I recall breaking down the meaning of hope to each of them as a goal oriented statement: my hope is for our product to be best in class and we will work on each feature to make sure we deliver on the value it promises our customers and our company.

Without even referencing the product this statement seems ambitious. While the delivery of this goal is in the actions we take the reference of hope creates a positive expectation. This is what hope does within a team. It connects each of our tasks as it leads to a bigger objective.

Hope creates a productive team environment

If hope creates a positive mindset within each team member then the whole team becomes more productive. While it is still the responsibility of a leader to breakdown and prioritize work objectively, connecting your hope to a team goal allows the whole team to understand the meaning behind each task.

I can speak from personal experience as this approach to work is reflected even in the way my whole team has seen each challenge thrown at us in the beginning of this year. As we focus on what we can control our hope to build a better product becomes contagious within the whole team.

Hope encourages everyone to be bold

When I spoke of hope to my team I knew that it would  bring some uncertainty to the work we had in our hands. But this was mostly because our view of hope was detached from any responsibility. Once we saw hope as a positive mindset to the actions we were taking, the opportunities to see our product beyond what it is became clearer.

The reality is that we take more chances when we believe in the work we’re doing. I am excited to see my team hope together and be courageous in the process.

In what other ways do you see hope being important to you? How can it influence your leadership? Comment below and let me know your thoughts.