Workforce and Training

Unappreciated Qualities of Leadership: Hope

Independent consultant and strategic advisor Dean Royles continues his series on The Unappreciated Qualities of Leadership. You can find links to his previous pieces here.

Those that follow me on Twitter and Instagram will know I'm a keen hiker. I love the outdoors and I love a sunrise, full of anticipation, bringing with it the prospect of another beautiful day, another day of adventure.

Because of where I live, I spend a fair bit of time in the Peak District and the village I most like to start my weekend adventure in is the Peak District village of Hope. It is the start of some great hikes and where I've taken some of my favourite photos. It also has a great name! A name full of the prospect of something better to come, of the future and of optimism.

We all hope that whatever our circumstances, that tomorrow will be better than today, that next month will be better than this and next year will be better than this year.

Hope is a great, underappreciated village (did I mention the wonderful post hike pint?) But the ability to bring hope into the workplace is a genuinely underappreciated quality of great leadership.

There are many leadership qualities that help define a great organisational leader; vision, strategic nous, sense making and engaging and inspiring employees. But some qualities are underappreciated and I have written about some of them here.

Working in the NHS can be extremely rewarding and life affirming. We have the ability to make positive difference to peoples’ lives every day. But it can also be dispiriting and demotivating, working with limited resources and under significant pressure. The leaders that must thrive in these circumstances are those that are able to bring hope into the workplace, to build a narrative and a commitment from employees that things will get better, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel that is getting brighter. This ability to bring hope into our organisations at team, divisional and organisational levels is a far greater motivation than fear or the use of the carrot and stick, and far more sustainable.

Having strategic vision is important but the underappreciated ability to bring hope into the workplace where resources are stretched and limited is a powerful attribute in any leader.

Let’s hope for a better tomorrow.