5 Ways Great Leaders Keep Hope Alive When Hope is Fading

We leaders are dealers in hope.

Not hype, which is completely different. But hope.

One of our key tasks is to move people toward a promise that’s real. Toward a better day. Toward a future that is better.

But how do you lead when hope is fading?

More precisely, how do you keep hoping when all hope is fading?

It’s easy to lead when everything is up and to the right. But it’s much harder when you can’t see much opportunity amidst the obstacles.

When you’re losing hope as a leader, what do you do? 

Great Leaders Deal Hope

Most great leaders are considered great because they did something almost no one else believed was possible.

Winston Churchill almost single handedly kept hope alive for the Western world in the early days of World War Two when Hitler’s steamroller over Europe seemed unstoppable. He instilled hope with his words when almost everyone else had lost hope. (Communicators should listen to this two minute excerpt of one of his finest speeches.)

Look through history and you’ll see this trend again and again:

Lincoln brought unity to a nation fractured at the seams.

Martin Luther King dreamed of a day few people thought would ever come.

Moses led a nation across the wilderness when everyone had about given up on his people and the promise, including, strangely, at one point, God (so Moses reminded him).

And, sometimes, hoping when there’s no hope is your job…and mine.

The leader’s task? To keep hope alive when there are 1000 logical reasons why hope should be dead.

The leader's task? To keep hope alive when there are 1000 logical reasons why hope should be dead. Share on X

How To Keep Hope Alive When All Hope Is Fading

So how do you keep hope alive when all hope is fading? Here are 5 ways.

1. Make a decision on whether to abandon the goal (or the ship)

The problem with most leaders is they can’t make up their mind whether or not they should abandon an idea or even abandon the ship when things are failing. Some dawdle for years.

The challenge with that is your people can sense it. If you’re not sure, how can they be sure?

Churchill decided he was going to stand up to Hitler even if no one else stood with him (and for that first year of WWII, almost no one stood with him).

So that’s why you need to decide whether to abandon an idea, project or even abandon leadership or decide to push forward. Just decide. Get in or get out.

How do you decide that? Get the best people you can around you and simply decide: is this a goal worth pursing?

Then act on that decision.

Hope does not make a bad idea better. But hope can make a great idea possible.

Hope does not make a bad idea better. But hope can make a great idea possible. Share on X

2. Lead from a vision that is bigger than the problem and bigger than you

Great leaders aren’t great because they tried to make themselves great (in fact, that’s a recipe for disaster). They are great because they anchor themselves to a cause that is far bigger than they are.

Churchill tied himself to freedom, democracy and the resistance of evil. Lincoln and King tied themselves to equality for people. Moses tied himself to a covenant promise God made.

Christian leaders have an exceptional mission that we often take for granted. The mission ahead of us is not your mission, it’s God’s.

It is the best story ever written and the best story that will be written. If that can’t inspire you or inspire people, I don’t know what to say.

And because it’s the Gospel, leaders discover that it resonates with people.

I often pray “God, you got us into this so please get us through this.” And I remind myself that no one has more invested in the mission of the church than God does.

3. Keep why (not what or how) front and center

What and how will kill you when hope is fading.

In fact, the reason hope fades is because no one can figure out what or how in a moment.

How do we roll back Hitler? How do we keep a nation together? How do we right a historic wrong? How are we going to get to the Promised Land?

If you focus on the what and how every day, everyone will eventually lose hope. After all, if you’re really leading, you’re attempting what many would consider to be nearly impossible.

Which is why you need to focus on the why.

How often should you focus on why?

Every day.

In every meeting.

In every communication.

Everytime you think about the problem.

Every time you open your mouth.

Every time you breathe.

Why keeps everyone at the table until what and how get figured out.

If you keep the why in front of you, what and how will usually work out.  You may go through 4-5 (or 40-50) configurations. But you’ll figure it out.

Focus on what and how and you will lose heart. Focus on why and you will unite and keep going.

4. Be vigilant about your inner circle

You definitely need a variety of opinions around your leadership table and the smartest and most faithful people you can find.

But you do not need cynics, critics or people who themselves have abandoned hope.

You do not need a crank on your board (probably ever), but certainly not in a crisis.

You need sharp, talented leaders committed to the same mission and vision who will relentlessly work to find the right strategy that will win the day.

Get rid of the people who don’t believe in the cause (they will soon find something else not to believe in). Find the people who do still believe in the mission. You cannot afford to have deadweight in a crisis.

5. Personally invest in the vision

This should go without saying. But as a leader you need to personally invest in the vision.

And yes, I mean time and heart and prayer. But I also mean money.

You might not be the richest person in your organization. But you should be the most invested person.

Why? Jesus also knew that your heart follows your treasure. Jesus was so right. Try spending $20,000 on something and not thinking about it.  Impossible, isn’t it?

If you have a significant amount of your personal money tied up in a vision, it’s like having a son or daughter on a battlefield. You will care about what happens.

You will naturally be more passionate and committed to the things you have the greatest investment in.

By the way, if you think your project is not a good investment and you’re hesitant to put your personal money into it, that might tell you you have a bad organization or the wrong leadership (you). If you don’t believe in y our  cause enough to invest sacrificially it  why would anyone else?

A leader who is not financially invested in the mission will never lead as passionately or as effectively as a leader who is.