Why leaders should be a ‘Beacon of hope’

In last week’s post I listed survey responses to the question, ‘What’s the first job of a leader?’. In the form of a metaphor, let me elaborate on my response to that question. That is: to, ‘Be a beacon of hope’.

‘Be a beacon of hope’ is not only the first job of a leader – it’s the every day job, through to the last job, of a leader. The metaphor for ‘Be a beacon of hope’ is a lighthouse. Picture yourself as an ever-present, always visible, lighthouse beaming out hope to your constituent ‘vessels’ on the open seas (ie. your team members, your clients, suppliers, the media and other stakeholders).

For example, imagine a lighthouse at night, sending constant pulses of light across the water to any ship in its reach. In a similar vein, that should be you – sending out pulses of hope to any person(s) in your reach.

Now I’m not suggesting that you minimise any challenge that you face or your organisation faces – be it mild, moderate or severe in nature. Rather, that whatever happens, that you leave any interaction, chance encounter, meeting, presentation, teleconference, phone conversation, media interview – projecting hope to the person/audience.

Particularly in pressure situations make sure you’re projecting genuine hope through your voice, face, body language and feeling tone and through your spoken messages. Even when you have to lay off a person, you can be a beacon of hope to them for their future.

The ‘how to apply’ for this post: In the next seven days make an intentional ‘beacon of hope’ spoken message in one of your interactions, meetings or sales presentations.