Spring into optimism – in your life and your business

This morning, the Coles checkout man looked at me and said, “You were the person who told me to get rid of the question, ‘How are you?’ and replace it with ‘What’s been the best thing in your day?’

I asked him how it was going. He told me he didn’t think he had time to listen to so many looong stories. So, after some thought, we tested it out on the following customer, who said, “Driving my daughter to school”.

Smiles all around, a happier place. Learning about the best thing in someone’s day doesn’t take long.

The two of them asked me the best thing happening to me, and I responded that September brought great joy to me working at the Spring into Optimism festival in Armidale, NSW.

The Spring into Optimism festival

The leaders of the UNE SMART Region Incubator, the City of Armidale and the University of New England identified the need for an injection of optimism. With a six-week run-up, the festival was a great success, with every event a full house, and I’m keen to spread the Spring into Optimism Festival much broader, maybe even global.

The festival included:

• A startups and entrepreneurs breakfast at the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM), a hotbed of optimistic art, with the NBN team joining us too;
• Optimism as the underpinning of economic development: A gathering of New England business leaders and economic development leaders were asked, ‘What makes you optimistic about economic development in our region?’ The two-hour conversation was inspiring as people shared what makes them optimistic, optimistic for their business and the region and stories of success and failure in industry and business development. The scientific evidence is that pessimists can’t innovate, so if you’re a boss and you want to achieve innovation, ask your team the fundamental question, ‘What makes you optimistic?’
• A public debate captured the thinking of local leaders on how to maintain their optimism in building a better future. The NSW Minister for Regional Development, Adam Marshall,  the Mayor of Armidale, Sam Coupland, and UNE’s Vice Chancellor Simon Evans were inspired by putting their cases for optimism.
• Dawn Yoga for Optimism tested our mettle. Optimists always have a plan B, and cold wind and rain running down our noses doing the mountain pose would not have been conducive to a bright start to the day. We moved inside to the Ooyala Aboriginal Centre, and an exquisite yoga class and meditation prepared us for the day.

A highlight was the 40 year 11 high school leaders from the Armidale region, Moree and boarders who gathered at Armidale Secondary School. Working with me, students talked about how to grow optimism in their schools and make optimism a hallmark of their leadership into 2023. Kids are positive, but they’re not necessarily optimistic. So, to foster optimism in our future leaders, we need to model it and make sure we let young people speak their truth.

“The abundance of opportunity and people to help make things happen in the region were common points shared,” said Dr Lou Conway, Director of the UNE SMART Region Incubator.

“A public debate captured the practices of our local leaders to maintain their optimism in building a better future. Whether from families, working alongside others, living in a safe and beautiful New England landscape, sharing culture and language, the community, or just a personal commitment to be positive and smile more, the local leaders shared their belief that optimism is central to taking action.

What can you do to Spring into Optimism?

As a reader of this news service, you know that optimism underpins business success, investment, and sales.

There’s an opportunity for you to replicate this in our business and community. We’ll be back next year with the Spring into Optimism festival, and you are welcome to utilise this to drive optimism in your business, staff, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.

As we found in Armidale, Spring – with new growth, flowers and blossoms – fills people with joy and a sense of optimism or positivity, energising business and community.

The leader knows that your positive leadership can inspire. However, you need to go further, as for most people, optimism is not acquired at work – it’s brought to work. It comes from mindset, life experience, faith and belief in humankind.

The only way to find out what gives people optimism is to ask them. So, in this Spring 2022, you can:

• Ask your people what makes them optimistic. If you want a model, use our five-minute survey “What makes you Optimistic in 2022, and your team can compare their optimism with the worldwide answers.
• Ask your reception staff and sales team to ask people about the best things in their day, and model that positive behaviour yourself. Returning to my Coles check-out man, most people want to hear more stories of optimism, and those shared stories are like fuel in the tank for themselves and the community.
• Do the free animated and fun one-hour certificate course, The Habits of an Optimist.

That’s a local success ingredient. At the global economy end, the World Economic Forum declared the loss of optimism to be one of the most significant business risks in 2022 and beyond.

The outcome of Armidale’s Spring into Optimism Festival was for people to think about what makes them optimistic and what makes them optimistic about Armidale. The conversations were calls to action and collaboration and gathering again under an optimism umbrella.

Not one person we asked had ever been asked before what makes them optimistic.

We are in a fog of pessimism, and you are called upon to be a beacon of optimism.

Quotable quotes from the Spring into Optimism festival

Simon Evans, Acting Vice Chancellor, University of New England: “I am optimistic because it is a mindset that predisposes me to action rather than inaction in the face of challenges; because I believe in the possibility of positive change through collaborative endeavour; and because it is necessary (but not sufficient!) in order to be an engaged and supportive friend, colleague and leader.”

Sarah Burrows, Red8Produce: “I choose to be optimistic; I don’t like the alternative. I know I am fortunate, in so many ways, and optimism drives my persistence to find better solutions and to support those around me who are also progressing change for good. Optimism is a choice and is infectious if shared.”

Lou Conway, UNE Smart Region Incubator: “What makes me optimistic? Endless possibilities that are fuelled by growing things, music, listening well, and every other unbounded moment of creativity.”

Pip Spilsbury, UNE Smart Region Incubator: “People make me optimistic. Around the world, people are demanding kindness, fairness and respect from our leaders, from our workplaces and from those around us. While some benefit from division, we are slowly learning that our differences are our superpower.”

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