Relentlessly positive? Or not?

What happened to negativity, criticism and cynicism? Can leaders and managers afford to be negative, hypercritical and cynical anymore, asks Kate Kearns?

WITH NEW PRIME MINISTER Jacinda Ardern having promised relentless positivity while on the campaign trail, and former Prime Minister Bill English proposing to be a positive force while in Opposition, one could be excused for thinking positivity is something new and exciting. And that positivity works to strike a chord with followers, and to attract votes.

What happened to negativity, criticism and cynicism? Can leaders and managers afford to be negative, hypercritical and cynical anymore? What about when the situations at hand can be perceived to be not so positive? Is it all about ‘put on your positivity pants and get on with it'?

Negativity, I learned about pretty early in my career. Try being tired and grumpy teaching a class of thirty 12-year-old girls. You'll get grumpy back times 30, I can tell you.

The same thing goes with employees. Professionalism is the order of the day – even when there are challenges and bad news to share. Sometimes there is little that is positive that can be said in a particular situation.

But it can be said with the recipient's dignity in mind and, in performance management scenarios, with a clear view on what is expected and how the situation can positively resolve. Here we are talking about a perspective that recognises the negative scenario and the potential for upset, while offering hope.

Hyper-criticality also backfires. There is clearly confusion in some people's minds about what constitutes critique and what constitutes criticism. Critique and debate are needed in executive conversations. Constant criticism and ‘othering' are not. In my experience, the problems are not all ‘theirs' and the glory all ‘ours'. It's rarely as straightforward as that. Here we are talking about a perspective that recognises we are human and all have strengths and weaknesses.

Cynicism – sometimes referred to as depersonalisation – suggests a lack of trust and diminished engagement. You don't believe other's motives or you generally lack faith in humanity. You're not really invested in your work, and you're either trying to hide it and it comes out sideways, or you are openly critical in ways that don't help the situation at hand. Some suggest cynicism imbues the modern notion of populism – others suggest it is hope that has seen changes of government. Here, in politics and in the workplace, the perspective that's best engendered is one of possibility.

Indeed, there is a whole current of organisational and management studies – positive organisation scholarship – that begins to suggest that positive practices enhance organisational effectiveness and predict organisational performance. It certainly accords with popular belief and the mood of the time.

Positivity is the tonic that consultants, coaches and change agents offer. Where do you get it from on the days you wake up without it? Sadly not from staying up late and having too much of a good time too often. Unfortunately not usually in the regular media or from reading magazines – unless they are balanced and reflective as this one seems to be.

I am not convinced that positivity is necessarily embued by large amounts of time on social media, either. The constant search for likes and the giving out of more likes in order to get likes is hardly conducive to feeling good in, and of, oneself.

It's good old virtue that triumphs here. The virtuous life is seen to engender positivity. The virtue of hard work – in reasonable doses and in a role you are suited to – may well be key.

As for relentlessness, probably more something we strive for, and something we as humans would struggle to achieve. As will both our political leaders, I suspect. But good on them for trying.