Education leaders face challenges with energy and confidence. Even if they are entering uncharted territory, they approach it as just another thing that can be mastered with hard work and patience. Each time they fail at a task, they just see it as another iteration on the pathway to success. Even when things look bleak, they keep going, never giving up until the task is done.

The truth about optimism

Sometimes being optimistic includes being honest with yourself and admitting that you need help. Maybe you need to call a colleague in to help or hire a consulting firm to help you complete the task. Regardless, optimism leads you to believe that the job can and will get done, even if the bulk of the work is done by others. At the end of the day, being part of the solution helps you to gain valuable new skills that you can add to your knowledge base.

Optimism is contagious, so be sure to focus on your attitude and understand that you set the tone for your employees. When they see your resilience and optimism at play, they will mirror it and work hard to be as self-confident as you. This infectious optimism will trickle down all the way to the students, who will work hard to be successful, as this standard has been set by the adults around them.

The class isn’t half full or half empty

Let’s look at a twist on a proverbial phrase meant to explain optimism. It is said that if you take a glass of water filled half-way to the top and sit in from of several people, some people will look at the glass as half-empty, and some will look at it as half-full. The former are pessimists and later are optimists. However, there is a new interpretation of this proverbial phrase that is making the rounds. It looks at the glass as completely full; half water and half air. This is how a modern education leader should approach tasks and obstacles.