SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 210,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter.
What’s your outlook for the coming year?
- It’s definitely going to be better than last year: 56%
- It’ll be about the same as last year: 31%
- It’s definitely going to be worse than last year: 13%
Optimistic Times. It looks like the vast majority of folks are seeing the coming year as an improvement over last year. That’s encouraging given all the turmoil in the markets but also understandable given some recent economic improvements. The big question for leaders is how do your teams see the coming year and how can you help them see how it can be better. Ask your people this same poll question and lead them accordingly. For the optimists, give them resources and support. For the pessimists, help them see the possibilities. You can make the year better for everyone that way.
Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, author of the upcoming book “The Elegant Pitch: Create a Compelling Recommendation, Build Broad Support, and Get it Approved” and “One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership.”