commit to a regular reset

A leader who treats everything as urgent overwhelms everyone. Instead, commit to a regular reset that your team can witness. Once a week, review your own calendar and commitments and ask three questions: What can I step out of? What can I hand off with guidance instead of doing myself? What am I doing out of habit or guilt rather than impact? This kind of maintenance keeps you—and the standard your team sees you set—in a productive mode that holds pessimism at bay.

Michelle Gielan

"How Leaders Counter Pessimism in Trying Times," Harvard Business Review. November–December 2026

resilient optimism

You can’t cure pessimism with a motivational speech or a good-vibes-only demeanor. Research shows that when people feel they must fake positivity, it leads to higher burnout. Instead, you need to build a culture of what I call resilient optimism: the ability to see challenges clearly while believing that actions can still influence outcomes.

Michelle Gielan

"How Leaders Counter Pessimism in Trying Times," Harvard Business Review. November–December 2026