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FROM THE FOUNDER
The optimistic leader
“E xpect the best and prepare for the worst.” We have all heard it. But do we LIVE it? Unfortunately many of us in leadership positions in AEC firms do not. Instead, we focus on the negative possibilities and as a result, we do not inspire our teams and potentially manifest the very negative outcome that we fear. Leaders shape outcomes through mindset, so choose optimism, act on opportunity, and set expectations that inspire rather than limit your team.
Mark Zweig
Why is this? Is it just because we are rational human beings and therefore preoccupied more with survival than we are maximizing our potential? Or is it because so much of our formal training is focused on risk reduction? I don’t know the answer. The one thing I DO know is that now – as much as any time I can recall – we need to be the optimists – the maximizers – the sellers of positive possibilities. When all we hear is bad news it’s easy to slip into negativity and fear. I have done it myself, even recently. Then the epiphany came to me. Out of every “bad” event, there is always a new opportunity – IF you can see it and seize upon it. And that awareness made me change my expectations. For example, we could lose a key long-term employee. We could wring our hands and lament the situation, or we could choose to see it as an
opportunity to replace the person with someone who is even better and who takes us in new directions. Or we could lose a big client. We could focus on the loss of revenue that this client gives us and look for ways to cut costs, or we could get creative and triple our efforts to find an even better client or clients to replace them with. We encounter these situations and others like them every day. The question is, how are you responding to them? With optimism and action, or with fear and negativity? What are your expectations – for success or failure? And how do you think your words and actions impact everyone who works with you? My first boss out of grad school, the late Michael Latas, was very fond of homilies. He told the same
See MARK ZWEIG , page 6
THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 8, 2025, ISSUE 1612
ELEVATE THE INDUSTRY®
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