On being positive

Do you know people who are just stubbornly pessimistic about things? They suck the energy out from you. They believe they are just being cautious and being smart about things, but they are actually just being so cynical with life.

The following list from the Web constitutes the thoughts of a cynic and might very well tell the story. It is entitled:

The Cynic’s Guide to Life

1. Follow your dream!  Unless it’s the one where you’re at work in your underwear during a fire drill.

2. Always take time to stop and smell the roses and sooner or later, you’ll inhale a bee.

3. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.  Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.  Do not walk beside me, either, just leave me alone.

4. If you don’t like my driving, don’t call anyone.  Just take another road. That’s why the highway department made so many of them.

5. If a motorist cuts you off, just turn the other cheek. Nothing gets the message across like a good mooning.

6. When I’m feeling down, I like to whistle. It makes the neighbor’s dog run to the end of his chain and gag himself.

7. It’s always darkest before the dawn.  So if you’re going to steal the neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.

8. A handy telephone tip: Keep a small chalkboard near the phone. That way, when a salesman calls, you can hold the receiver up to it and run your fingernails across it until he hangs up.

9. Each day I try to enjoy something from each of the four food groups: the bonbon group, the salty-snack group, the caffeine group and the “What-ever-the-thing-in-the-tinfoil-in-the-back-of-the-fridge-is.”

10. Into every life some rain must fall. Usually when your car windows are down.

11. Just remember: You gotta break some eggs to make a real mess on the neighbor’s car!

12. This morning I woke up to the unmistakable scent of pigs in a blanket.  That’s the price you pay for letting the relatives stay over.

13. It’s a small world. So you gotta use your elbows a lot.

14. Keep your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel, it’s a lot cheaper than plastic surgery.

15. This land is your land. This land is my land. So stay on your land.

16. Love is like a roller coaster: When it’s good you don’t want to get off, and when it isn’t you can’t wait to throw up.

Leaders cannot afford to be negative.

How many leaders or other top professionals have you met who hate their job and at the same time are cynical about what they do? Such people may exist, but mostly, people vote with their feet. If they dislike something, they move.

As a matter of fact, many leaders moan, groan, grumble and mumble about how hard their work is and the jet lag they go through, not because they are complaining, but mostly because they are just boasting and bragging.

They are actually addicted to what they do and they want everyone to admire them for doing so, which is not a good thing at all. The impression comes across that this leader is an uncaring, self-centered one who depresses the staff and leaves them uninspired to carry on with the demands of the workload.

The leader has to be positive, especially when times are tough. The leader has to have difficult conversations with his or her staff when needed, yet remain positive and clear with their expectations.

The positive leader will then earn respect and inspire the people to become highly productive and engaged, and in turn make positive things happen.

There’s just no other way.

(Connect with Francis Kong in www.facebook.com/franciskong2. or listen to “Business Matters” Monday to Friday 8 a.m. And 6:30 p.m. over 98.7 dzFE-FM ‘The Master’s Touch’, the classical music station.)