Many have debated that selling hope is not a strategy. In her Harvard Business Review blog titled, Hope Is a Strategy (Well, Sort Of), Deborah Mills-Scofield clearly articulates, “Hope is a critical part of achieving a strategy when based on what is possible; perhaps not highly probable, but possible. Hope is the belief that something is possible and probable, and the recognition that the degree of each is not necessarily equal. When hope is based on real-world experience, knowledge and tangible and intangible data, it results in trust, which is necessary to implementing any strategy.”

President Barrack Obama proved Ms. Mills-Scofield’s hypothesis during both of his successful presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012. People wanted something to believe in, solve their problems and make themselves feel better about potentially having a brighter future. Obama’s campaign messages of Hope and Change (2008) and Forward (2012) did just that!

Obama accomplished something that not many thought possible of a Presidential candidate during one of the most severe economic crises in recent U.S. history. He “sold hope” – not once, but twice ( surprising those who thought he failed in his first term of office). He didn’t sell a path towards real, viable solutions, because he knew he couldn’t resolve the financial and corporate infrastructure of America that was broken.

Instead, he was forced to sell hope to inspire a powerful grass-roots movement of followers/voters who were looking for a better life. He revitalized the faith in ourselves and each other. Obama’s campaigns convinced people that the only way we could survive, renew and reinvent the economy is if we could be responsible enough to believe in ourselves and each other – to do it together. He put forward a vibrant energy of endless possibilities throughout America that made people believe that their lives would change in a positive direction.

Though Obama won the elections, it’s difficult to believe that “selling hope” made things much better for America – but for a short period of time, for many, he did. Though Senator John McCain (2008) and Governor Mitt Romney (2012) focused on delivering real solutions and minimized the substance and power of hope during their respective presidential bids, it appears that this is changing; according to NBC News, Speaker Newt Gingrich is suggesting that the GOP now give hope a chance to revitalize a political party that is in shambles.

When people feel lost, uncertain and troubled in their careers and lives – sometimes all they want is a dose of hope. Much like happiness, hope is an emotion that comes and goes. It requires the individual to make good choices in order to sustain its positive impact. As such, the workplace culture, the people you associate yourself with and your general state of mind are just a few things that influence your degree of happiness and hope. Many just want to hear a leader tell them that everything is going to be fine. They want a sense of security, a feeling that their worries and sorrows will soon be gone. People search for hope to recapture that moment in time when they felt their best, when they had minimal financial, personal and/or workplace problems. As we all know about life, you are either solving a problem, coming out of a problem or heading into a new problem. Hope alleviates the tension points throughout life’s journey.

A recent episode of ABC’s The Lookout really opened my eyes to the power of hope. Infomercial king Kevin Trudeau is in contempt for not paying a $37.6 million penalty imposed upon him in 2010 when Judge Robert Gettleman ruled Trudeau had made misleading claims in infomercials for his best-selling book, "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About." According to ABC News, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged Trudeau had bamboozled hundreds of thousands of consumers with claims that the diet – which calls for prolonged periods of extreme calorie restriction, off-label injections and high-colonic enemas – was "easy." The judge ordered Trudeau to compensate any consumer who bought the book after viewing one of the ads. Regardless of Trudeau’s troubles with the FTC, long-term followers of Trudeau remain loyal and committed to purchasing his message of hope (i.e., CDs, DVDs, other tools and resources).

Whether it’s Obama falling short of his Presidential campaign promises made in 2008, or Trudeau running into trouble with the Federal government for false weight loss claims in his books, people are willing to forgive them and continue to invest in their respective “selling of hope campaigns” in exchange for a powerful dose of optimism and a belief for a better tomorrow.

So why is hope so powerful? How come people have a thirst and addiction for hope? Why are people willing to sacrifice their hard earned time and money in exchange for hope? As one person said in a survey conducted by my organization, “If you purchase several temporary doses of hope, the effect will be long-lasting.” As you evaluate the ways that you can responsibly use hope as a leadership strategy to enable your employees to reach their goals, dreams and aspirations – take a look at these five ways that hope influences positive social engagement, a more disciplined state of mind and mental/physical well-being.

1. Hope Renews Faith

Hope resets your belief system and allows you to renew your faith in a message, person and/or support groups to help you become more accountable for the betterment of yourself and others. With this renewed faith, hope introduces you to a path of new beginnings; the belief in finding solutions to problems – solutions you never thought existed.

As a corporate executive that transitioned into the world of entrepreneurship, my journey was difficult at first. There were many personal struggles along the way as I sought to build businesses that were against conventional wisdom. Often times I had to reevaluate my friends and relationships as many of them either didn’t understand nor wanted to learn more about what I was trying to accomplish. I encountered a lack of support early on. I felt alone, needing hope to get me through each day. Thankfully, my father and other mentors would give me a sense of peace to help me renew my faith in my friends and the focus to keep pursing my goals. My Dad would always tell me, “It’s ok to be concerned, but don’t fall into the trap of worrying. Worrying causes stress and that impacts your health; it doesn’t allow you to properly think of a viable solution. Being concerned makes you more aware and allows you to use critical thinking/reasoning toward a longer term solution.”

My Dad would often remind me that “opportunities are everywhere but few have the eyes to see them.” Thanks to my Dad and to those who are my real friends, I proudly live and share my foundational values and beliefs through my immigrant perspective. Hope gives you the grounding you need enforce what you stand for. Have you solidified your foundation?

2. Hope Builds Self-Confidence

Hope builds our self-confidence and inspires us to believe that we are capable of achieving great things by enabling us to aim higher and work smarter. Self-confidence becomes a platform to accept fresh thinking and motivates us to make new choices in our careers and life.

Hope recalibrates your mindset and makes you believe there is a way out of your deepest fears. Self-confidence is amplified when your emotional intelligence kicks-in and you begin to feel that the workplace environment gives you the permission to be yourself. When you can be your authentic self, your self-confidence further begins to illuminate and your engagement levels elevate. People take notice and you begin to have “game” again.

Many use social media as a source of hope to build their self-confidence. People spend hours each day monitoring the number of friends, followers and “likes” they have. They use LinkedIn as their primary networking tool, believing that they automatically have the permission to connect with a senior executive just because they belong to the same LinkedIn group. While social media provides a short-term source for hope, you need to have the substance and credibility to sustain the momentum you are attempting to build. Social media doesn’t enable happiness (as a recent study confirmed about Facebook), nor does it increase your value. Social media gives you hope and with this additional breath of fresh air, you start to believe that something positive is going to happen in your career and life.

Hope gives you the self-confidence to keep moving forward and closer to earning your serendipity.

3. Hope Promotes Empowerment & Clarity

Hope broadens our observations and gives us the circular vision to see around, beneath and beyond the goals we seek. Hope allows us to translate complexity into clarity. We begin to see through a wider lens. My father said that “adversity is very big when it is all you can see. But it is very small when in the presence of all else that surrounds you.” Hope fuels your perspective.

Hope invigorates our passionate pursuits of endless possibilities. Hope gives us purpose and strengthens our will and ambitions. Napoleon Hill introduced us to the power of having a positive mental attitude “that will clear all obstacles that stand between you and your major purpose in life. A positive mind finds a way it can be done, while a negative mind looks for all the ways it can't be done.”

Hope is the ultimate game changer that promotes the empowerment and clarity we all need to move forward with our careers and lives. Every leader must have hope because without it, you become cynical. Perhaps this is why so many people are unhappy at work. According to a study featured in UK’s Daily Express, 63 percent of workers feel so depressed at their current career choice that they look on in envy at family and friends who, seemingly, have more productive and rewarding jobs.

Hope propels you during difficult times and infuses you with happiness and keeps you moving towards your dreams, goals and aspirations. If you are frustrated with your career, you need hope to stop feeling stuck. Remember, one phone call can change your life but many times you don’t know when it’s coming. Put yourself in a position to be ready when the phone rings.

4. Hope Helps Increase Productivity and Underscores a Positive Work Ethic 

With points 1 - 3 intact, hope now allows you to think about your attitude and the approach and consistency of your work ethic. Hope now allows you to be more resourceful with your time and the energy you give to your daily work goals. We now become much more mindful about doing the right thing, are more focused in associating ourselves with the right people. We become more in tune with how we lost hope to begin with and as our survival mode kicks-in, we leap ahead with greater hope and a healthier outlook that values our time and that of others.

Hope gives us more focus in our work and thus we begin to value ourselves in the process. We recognize that the value/worth of the contributions we create for the organization we serve will allow us to get discovered and enable our career advancement. Many times, hope is the nudge we all need to create and sustain the momentum we seek for our careers and lives.

Hope reminds us that we must be more entrepreneurial; that survival, renewal and reinvention is a way of life. You don’t need to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial, but you must embrace the entrepreneurial attitude. Hope gives us the right attitude to keep pushing when prudence says quit.

5. Hope Instills Family Pride and Togetherness 

Hope is a powerful force that brings people together. It instills a sense of unity, collective pride and strengthens optimism when people work together as one. This is why teambuilding is so powerful. By leveraging one another’s unique strengths and capabilities we become more hopeful and can accomplish much more. This explains why the most successful companies have a strong workplace culture and why family-controlled firms outperformed their public peers by 6% on company market value.

Hope is the ultimate enabler of trust. It reminds us all of the importance of embracing our cultural promise: that success comes most to those who are surrounded by people who want the success to continue. It’s the notion that when we have each other’s backs, we are all more hopeful.

Leadership is about making a difference in people’s lives. It’s about instilling and managing optimism with real opportunities that people believe they can achieve. Hope can certainly be a viable strategy – but without substance, value and daily progress, selling hope becomes limited and irresponsible.

Don’t abuse the power of hope. Only use it if you can truly help people move in a more positive direction, toward healthy optimism and sustainable outcomes.

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