Hope Springs Eternal
22 Aug 2006There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:18 (NIV)
One of the greatest gifts leaders can give to those around them is hope. Never underestimate its power. Winston Churchill was once asked by a reporter what his country’s greatest weapon was against Hitler’s Nazi regime. Without pausing for a moment, he said: “It was what England’s greatest weapon has always been - hope.”
People will continue working, struggling, and trying if they have hope. Hope lifts people’s morale. It improves their self-image. It re-energizes them. It raises their expectations. It is the leader’s job to hold hope high, to instill it in the people he leads. Our people will have hope only if we give it to them. And we will have hope to give if we maintain the right attitude.
Marshall Foch was a hero in the Battle of Verdun. He observed, “There are no hopeless situations; there are only men who have grown hopeless about them.” Maintaining hope comes from seeing the potential in every situation and staying positive, despite the circumstances.
