How many people see the world through rose-colored glasses? Most of us, according to popular belief. But the truth is quite different. It’s more like we wear dark sunglasses that block out much of the sun—or, in this analogy, the good.
Our troubles start with negativity bias—the tendency to “attend to, learn from, and use negative information far more than positive information.” Psychologists say it comes from the time when we lived on the savannah and needed to be alert to every threat. Paying attention to the tiger lurking at the watering hole commanded far more attention than the nearby fruit tree.
Negativity bias is still very much alive, but in different forms. Consider this example: Some 90%+ of news stories are negative, yet much good is also happening in the world. So why the focus? Think back to the tiger.
How deep does negativity bias run? Some 80% of our thoughts are negative. And 98% of all our thoughts today are the same ones we had yesterday.
That means we dwell on the negative. We’re affirming it. Repeatedly. And we aren't even aware of it.
If these facts provoke disbelief, listen to your self-talk the next time you are in a mood. Once you get past the initial cause of your distress, you're likely to hear yourself saying things like: “This is too hard. I don't have what it takes. I’m not smart enough. I’m going to fail.”
The Impact of Negative Leaders
Negative thinking is even more consequential for leaders, because they have an oversized effect on their people. In fact, a person’s leader has more influence on their mood than their doctor, therapist, or even their spouse. What a leader feels, others are likely to feel.
This phenomenon is called emotional contagion. If you are happy, those around you are likely to catch it. The same holds true with negative emotions. Be irritable, anxious, or angry, and you'll infect people on your team.
A barrage of negativity adds up. Negative leaders have teams that are burdened by poor productivity, disengagement, increased employee stress, and turnover.
Leading with negativity bias takes many forms: looking for problems, chronic dissatisfaction, micromanaging, publicly criticizing others, assuming people have bad intentions, etc.
Here we look at three common ones and share antidotes to each.
Focusing on Negative Feedback
Giving feedback is one place where negativity bias rears its head.
Some 56% of leaders prefer to give negative feedback versus 31% who prefer giving positive feedback. According to the authors of the study, one reason leaders choose negative is that they don’t understand the power of positive feedback. Additionally, leaders are concerned that if they give out too much positive feedback, their people may disregard or minimize negative feedback.
But dwelling on negative qualities of people has destructive results. It spurs disengagement, turnover, and poor productivity. The kindest description: It’s a self-defeating strategy that prevents a leader from accomplishing the very thing they want to achieve.
An article in Harvard Business Review best sums up the flaw of this approach: Negative Feedback Rarely Leads to Improvement. But it does often lead to anxiety, lethargy, and depression in those who receive it.
The Antidote for Giving Negative Feedback
Let’s start with a prerequisite. “For constructive feedback to be received and considered, people need to feel valued and appreciated. All employees want to know that their leaders see the fruits of their labor and their work is valuable to the organization,” says Dr. Jay Campbell, Chief Product Officer of Blanchard. “These are universal needs we all share. Creating some psychological safety by expressing your appreciation can really help open people up to your feedback.”
Here’s another simple solution, courtesy of Ken Blanchard: Catch people doing something right. Remember that it takes five praises to counteract one negative comment. Generously praise others and watch a positive transformation happen.
When giving feedback, think of it as a spectrum with negative, constructive, and transformative segments.
Negative feedback is potentially harmful. It hurts the recipient and can stimulate the fight/flight/freeze response. It rarely improves performance. Avoid giving negative feedback—especially anything that’s personal, disparaging, or belittling.
Constructive feedback is helpful. It should be your default behavior. Offer observations and requests that help the person move forward, are easy to implement, and are presented respectfully. Your goal as a leader is to help someone succeed and be their best.
Madeleine Homan Blanchard, the Chief Coaching Architect of Blanchard and a co-founder of Blanchard Coaching Services, offers this insight: “When giving feedback, a manager must sometimes make a direct request. If a manager is expecting change because of giving feedback, they have to crystal clear about what they are seeing currently, and what difference they need to see.
“I think a lot of managers give feedback and expect that the request is heard loud and clear, when in fact the employee often walks away either having not heard it, or thinking, ‘What am I supposed to do with that, other than feel terrible?’”
Transformative feedback, the last type, is a more of an art form. It is sharing profound insights that shift a person’s mindset. This type of feedback invites reflection and even revelation—so much so that it can change the trajectory of someone's career.
Summing it up: Never give negative feedback. Always give constructive feedback. Aspire to give transformative feedback.
Making Decisions to Avoid Risk
Much of our brain’s software is designed to protect us from injury and loss. It has its roots on the savannah. Avoid tigers, crocodiles, and snakes at all costs.
Risk aversion bias is one example of how this primal fear is still alive. Simply put, we typically feel losses more intensely than equivalent gains. As Psychology Today states,
“Losses hurt about twice as much as gains make you feel good.“
When leaders are risk averse, they’re projecting what they think will be the negative outcome of a decision—instead of analyzing what is likely to happen in a more balanced way.
Saddled by fears, they’ll go to great lengths to avoid losses. But the safest choice may not be the best one. Answers to present challenges may not lie in the past.
How do you know if you’re under the thrall of risk aversion?
Clinging to the status quo is a sign that a leader is risk averse. Instead of spotting opportunities, they see losses. They become fossilized in their thinking. A better future passes by as they grasp more tightly to obsolete ways.
“Of course, maintaining the status quo for some things has its place. We can’t change everything in our lives at the same time. But it's worth considering whether we are seeing the world objectively, or through the lens of negativity—because the tendency for most of us is to automatically avoid risks and minimize the benefits,” notes Dr. Campbell.
Antidotes to Risk Aversion
The practice of mindfulness can help tame the fear of loss avoidance. The main idea is to slow down and become aware of your thoughts and feelings to more consciously choose your path forward. Numerous resources available online (including the link just shared) can help leaders make mindfulness central to the way they lead. The practice also brings numerous other benefits, including better decision making, increased resilience, improved performance, and reduced stress, to name a few.
Self-reflection is another valuable tool for overcoming risk aversion. Your goal is to understand the root cause of your fears. Ask yourself questions like:
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- What am I afraid of?
- What can I do to mitigate the risks and still take action?
- What's the worst that can happen if I take this course?
- Am I prioritizing security over growth?
Once you understand why you are avoiding risk, focus on the potential benefits rather than the worst case scenario. Reframe the situation so that you appreciate the opportunity before you.
“In the end, taking calculated risks is part of a leader’s job description. It is an inescapable responsibility that comes with the role. If leaders consistently make low-risk choices, they are destined for mediocrity. Overcome this by taking small risks and succeeding, and taking bigger risks as confidence grows. Embrace the spirit of experimentation,” suggests Dr. Campbell.
Instilling Pessimism into Your Teams
Leading with a pessimistic mindset in team settings puts everyone on the fast track to failure. Leaders who are chronically pessimistic can be frozen in place by their own fears. They can fixate on problems and are blind to possibilities. And this pernicious attitude spreads.
Remember that leaders have as much influence on their people as their spouses do, and emotions are contagious. This makes a pessimistic manager a carrier of negativity. Their gloomy personality will mushroom into more pessimists. The results are demoralized employees, disengagement, little innovation, and higher turnover.
Additionally, if someone feels that their pessimistic leader will quickly dismiss their ideas (a reasonable assumption), they will remain silent. The leader will have unknowingly created an environment lacking in psychological safety, which is a necessity for productivity, creativity, honesty, and numerous other workplace virtues.
Pessimism is a complicated subject that is linked to depression and often warrants professional help. That said, there are simple remedies pessimistic leaders can use to change the way they conduct themselves in team settings.
Antidotes to Pessimism in Team Settings
Here are four simple solutions to overcoming pessimism while leading teams:
1. Focus on positive outcomes and learning. A leader who is aware of their influence will share the potential positives of a decision with people, instead of immediately discussing possible concerns and problems. Start off a venture with discouraging words and you’ll douse all enthusiasm.
Optimistic leaders also view failure as learning opportunities. This is not lip service, but a deeply held belief. They consider it their responsibility to help people understand what they have learned and use what they've discovered to explore new paths.
2. Identify solutions, not just problems. While the brain is wired for loss avoidance, it is also wired for problem-solving. In fact, many experts believe that our problem-solving capabilities are what make us successful as a species.
Keep your eyes on the goal. Think how you can incrementally move your team forward before and after every meeting.
4. Spend time with optimists. Use emotional contagion to your benefit. Seek out the optimistic leaders at work. Observe how they think and act. And let yourself get infected by their sunny disposition.
Putting Negativity in Its Place
Negativity bias is as old as our species. Our brains are hardwired for it, but we are no longer on the savannah. Letting it run amok in the workplace is dangerous, destructive, and pointless.
A wise leader will do their best to escape the negativity trap.
Here's a final fact to convince you the effort is worth it. Research shows that optimistic managers are rated as far better leaders by their people than managers who are pessimistic.
Be optimistic and you'll be more successful and have happier, more productive employees. It's a simple choice that can require tremendous willpower. But it's a decision worth embracing.
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