The ultimate expression of optimism

And power of a few well-placed words

For years, one of our customers hosted a workshop with early professionals that they titled Unlock Your Potential. I always found that idea appealing – figuring out how to make the most of your capabilities. The dream of reaching pinnacles.

Trying to bring out potential seems to me an ultimate expression of optimism: to believe that you and the world around you can grow.

Maybe you’ve had the beautiful experience – when leading people or mentoring or with a friend or raising children – of saying to someone that you see in them potential. Sometimes giving that person a role or suggestion of how to try it. Or simply encouraging them to do something again that they so far did tentatively. Then over time, they blossomed confidently into a new capability.

They just needed a little spark of perspective. And off they ran in ways you didn’t imagine.

In fact, perhaps the person who once received that life-direction-encouraging spark was you. And you’ve always remembered the person who said it.

It’s not an easy thing, building potential

I wrote a while ago that creating a sense of purpose and feeling relevant is something we can observe and identify – that we need both for keeping a fresh direction.

Building potential seems to me a harder form of work. You must truly do something about it. Take on bigger challenges, bravely face each obstacle, persist in your deepest moments of despair that nothing you have tried is making a difference. Take the long view instead of evaluating every moment.

One can find many books about simply getting on with the next action. Even when it feels like a risk. And no one else yet sees where you are going except you. If it were easy, we wouldn’t need a library!

Where expression starts

We influence a positive spiral when we recognition potential.

When our purpose guides our choices, we tend to pursue more activities that affirm our sense of relevance and to take on new challenges. Together, they build a cycle of optimism. The belief in possibilities and confidence in our experiments. (See table below.)

Plus, we can influence a wider effect. Telling someone that you truly see potential is not idle flattery; it is saying that you believe in their possibilities.

It takes only a few simple, sincere words from someone who paid attention to spark it. To help each other grow.