The Glow of Yellow: Why a Good Attitude is Your Most Powerful (and Free) Leadership Tool

Welcome back to the Seeing Leadership in Color series.

We’ve already hit the fire of Red (Courage) and the steady anchor of Blue (Trust). Today we’re stepping into the brightest one:

Yellow. Optimism. Hope. The thing that makes people believe the next step is worth taking.

And yes, optimism can be a personality trait. But in leadership? It’s more like a job requirement.

Because optimism isn’t a vibe. It’s a choice. Over and over. Especially when the “how” is missing.

The Hartford Mountain (a.k.a. “Are we sure this is possible?”)

When I got to Hartford, I knew exactly what I was signing up for: we were undertaking a major campaign.

I’d done campaign work before. But this was different—and not in a “surprise, gotcha” way. More like a “yep, this is going to be a climb” way.

I started in October. We wanted to announce in April. And we had exactly ZERO dollars raised.

Not “almost zero.” Not “we have a warm lead and a half.” Zero.

And it wasn’t just the money. We had a few important things to line up:

• no case for support yet (the “why should anyone give?” story)

• and honestly? All the pieces were there, but we needed to get them in the right spots. We needed the right rhythm together.

Even with a great consultant in the mix, it was a massive mountain to climb.

There were plenty of days we looked at the calendar, looked at the reality, and thought: …cool, cool, cool… how though?

My Core Philosophy (and our secret weapon): “Having a good attitude is free.”

When the plan is unclear and the stakes are high, a lot of leaders reach for control.

More meetings. More pressure. More frantic energy.

But we’ve all learned this the hard way: frantic energy is contagious… and so is calm optimism.

I’ve always come back to the simplest leadership tool I’ve ever found:

“Having a good attitude is free.”

No purchase order. No budget approval. No special software. Just a decision.

And in a situation like that—big goal, small runway—attitude isn’t a solo act. It’s shared energy. It’s the invisible thing we build together that makes the next hard conversation, the next call, and the next “okay, try again” feel possible.

Optimism is a choice… and a responsibility

Here’s the part we don’t say out loud enough:

Teams don’t run on spreadsheets. They run on belief.

And sure, leaders set the tone—but this wasn’t me “giving” optimism to everyone like I’m tossing out free samples at Costco. This was us deciding (sometimes daily, sometimes hourly) that we were going to keep our energy pointed in the right direction.

We didn’t need to be delusional. We did need to be steady. To keep the lights on. To keep the story alive long enough for the work to catch up.

So we practiced it in small ways:

• we focused on positive thoughts (not “toxic positivity,” just “we’re not dead yet” realism)

• we did little gestures for each other—quick notes, check-ins, recognition that didn’t feel like a corporate poster

• we treated morale like a deliverable, not an afterthought

Because when you’re climbing something steep, the real job is to keep moving—together.

Yellow is the fuel that makes the “how” possible

Optimism doesn’t magically solve the problem.

What it does is keep the team in the game long enough to find solutions.

That’s Yellow.

It’s the decision to say:

• “We can figure this out.”

• “We’re not behind, we’re just early.”

• “We don’t have the whole map, but we’ve got the next step.”

This is what I told myself constantly: I can be hopeful even if I can’t see the exact “how” yet.

That hope creates space for:

• creativity

• resilience

• collaboration

• better decisions under pressure

And honestly? It makes the work way less miserable.

The result: we crushed the goal in 2025

Spoiler: it worked.

We crushed our goal in 2025.

Was it only attitude? Of course not. We did the strategy, built the story, got aligned, found our rhythm, and put in real work.

But the start—the thing that made everything else possible—was choosing optimism when it would’ve been very easy to choose doom.

It all started with attitude. And the best part is: that tool was available to every single one of us, every single day, for free.

The Yellow leadership challenge (for this week)

If you’re leading anything right now—team, project, partnership, your own career—try this:

1. Pick your attitude on purpose. Not based on circumstances. Based on values.

2. Borrow the future. Act like the win is possible, even if it’s not visible yet.

3. Protect the energy. Your mood becomes the room’s weather.

4. Make one small “Yellow” move today. A thank you. A clear next step. A little humor. A “we’ve got this.”

Because optimism is the fuel that turns “I have no idea how” into “Okay, here’s the next move.”

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This is part of the Seeing Leadership in Color series. Missed earlier posts? Catch up on the blog.