Leadership Requires Optimism
Why progress depends on believing improvement is possible
The future belongs to the optimists
Kevin Kelly, long-time editor of Wired and a self-described futurist, has long argued that the future will be made by optimists. I return to that line often. If Kelly is right about how progress happens, then optimism isn’t optional for leaders; it’s foundational. Every meaningful thing we’ve built, improved, or sustained began with a belief that improvement was possible. Progress does not happen accidentally. It begins when someone imagines a better state than the one they’re standing in, and decides it’s worth pursuing.
“The future will be made by optimists.” - Kevin Kelly
Kelly isn’t talking about optimism as attitude or personality. He’s describing a pattern he’s observed over decades: progress emerges when people believe systems can be improved, even when outcomes are uncertain and timelines are long. That idea is both liberating and unsettling. Liberating, because it affirms that progress is possible. Unsettling, because it quietly assigns responsibility. Opting out of optimism is not neutral. It’s a choice to leave the future to others.
What I mean by optimism
Words like optimism, pessimism, realism, and pragmatism get used loosely. When I use the word optimism, I’m not talking about blind positivity. I’m talking about agency. Optimism, as I see it, is confidence that problems are worth engaging. It’s the belief that improvement is possible, even when it is not guaranteed.
I consider myself an optimist precisely because I know problems will exist. I expect them. I also believe that problems can be solved, or at least transformed into something better than what came before. I often play the role of skeptic in conversations. I challenge ideas, question assumptions, and look for weaknesses in arguments. To some, that can sound pessimistic. To me, it’s the opposite. My skepticism is local, focused on challenging individual ideas to find stronger ones. It is rooted in a broader optimism that says if we surface the hard parts, think clearly, and stay honest long enough, we can make real progress.
Optimists guide the order of things
To create a better future, you first have to imagine it. Then you have to believe that it’s possible. Only after those steps do conviction, creativity, and persistence have anything to attach themselves to. Every advancement we benefit from today, whether technological or societal, began with someone encountering a problem and choosing not to accept it as permanent.
This matters in leadership because optimism shapes how people act under uncertainty. It influences whether leaders invest or retreat, experiment or freeze, or interpret setbacks as data rather than verdicts.
Optimism doesn’t change the facts, it changes how leaders respond to incomplete information.
Imagine a world where every challenge is met with the belief that it is insurmountable. Problems would still be noticed. They would simply be avoided. Progress would stall almost immediately.
The same dynamic plays out in business. Over the course of my career, I’ve worked at startups from zero revenue through late-stage growth, and at large, successful public companies. All of them required optimism to move forward. That is especially true in startups, where teams operate with the conviction that something better than the status quo exists, even before there is proof. Building something new is filled with reasons to doubt: markets shift, products fail, and plans unravel. The people who drive meaningful change are the ones who wake up believing that today’s problems can be worked through, and that improvement is available. Each solved problem reveals the next one. That’s not failure. That’s the climb.
A note on techno-optimism
In recent years, “techno-optimism” has taken on a louder, more aggressive tone. Some versions frame technology as an unquestioned moral good, argue for maximum acceleration, and treat concerns about safety or governance as obstacles to progress. I understand why people are drawn to acceleration when systems feel slow or broken. That is not the optimism I’m talking about.
The optimism I speak of is grounded in pragmatism and responsibility. It starts with an honest assessment of risk and unintended consequences. It assumes that systems, guardrails, and trust matter. It is pro-building and human-centered. This is not optimism as ideology or growth at any cost. It is optimism as a leadership stance: imagining a better future, telling the truth about what stands in the way, and doing the daily work of moving toward that future on purpose.
Optimism is hard
It is genuinely difficult for many people to feel optimistic today. The world is full of real problems, and modern media environments are designed to amplify them. Bad news travels fast. It captures attention, and algorithms reward it. What’s harder to see is that much of human progress shows up as things that didn’t happen: diseases that no longer spread, famine that never materialized, accidents that were prevented. Those outcomes rarely make headlines. Optimism isn’t ignoring reality, it’s choosing how to engage with it.
While bad things often happen quickly, good things take time. When you step back and look at long-term measures such as life expectancy, child mortality, literacy, and access to food, medicine, and information, it’s difficult to find any 25-year period where the average human was better off than they are today. That doesn’t mean the benefits are distributed equally, that suffering has disappeared, or that risks are low. It means the baseline we’re standing on is the best humanity has managed to build so far. As a global society, we have made tremendous, if imperfect, progress. There is every reason to believe that progress can continue.
How I live as an optimist
On a personal level, I try to live as if a good future is worth investing in. I want a long, healthy life. I don’t expect to live to be 150 years old, and I don’t want to. The limits are part of what give life meaning. But I am optimistic that consistent effort, healthy habits, and modern medical knowledge can meaningfully extend healthspan and quality of life. That belief doesn’t make me complacent. It’s the reason I act.
Beyond myself, I try to contribute where I can. I mentor and guide people when I have the opportunity. I support causes I care about. I volunteer my time. I don’t expect to solve big problems alone. But I might help solve something small for someone else, and I take that seriously. As I move deeper into the second half of my life, that motivation has only grown. If I didn’t believe my choices, energy, and actions could make the world better for even a handful of people, I’m not sure how I would make sense of why I’m here at all.
Go forth as an optimist
Every goal we set and every system we build is rooted in an imagined future. We act because we believe that future is reachable.
As we begin 2026, I invite you to enter the new year with optimism. Look at yourself and consider the progress you want to see in your life. Believe progress is possible, then start taking actions in the right direction. In your work and with the teams you lead, model optimism. Don’t stop challenging the status quo, and don’t stop challenging ideas. But don’t be someone who only challenges, blocks, or tears down. Be the kind of leader who believes progress is available. Set the vision. Shape the plan. Expect setbacks. Keep driving forward.
Optimism isn’t a personality trait. It’s a practice. It’s choosing to engage with problems rather than turn away from them. Over time, that choice shapes teams, organizations, and futures. This is how progress is made.