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&lt;p&gt;One of the most interesting discussions at the recently-concluded Business for Social Responsibility&#39;s (BSR) annual conference was temptingly titled &#39;&lt;em&gt;Calling all Remarkable Leaders&lt;/em&gt;.&#39; Featuring Joanna Barsh, a senior partner with McKinsey &amp;amp; Co., and the tour de force behind the McKinsey Centered Leadership Project, the session while not focused on sustainability or CSR strategy, provided a much needed dose of optimism as well as some key tips on successful leadership.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Barsh, who is also the co-author of &lt;em&gt;How Remarkable Women Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Work &amp;amp; Life&lt;/em&gt;, took a packed room of women&amp;mdash;and a few men&amp;mdash;through what she called the &#39;Downward Spiral,&#39; or a woman&#39;s psychological process when faced with a challenge or worse, a setback at work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;embeddedObject&quot; src=&quot;http://content.screencast.com/users/vault.com/folders/Jing/media/44904693-16df-4df3-a80d-95b2402aa99c/2010-11-12_1431.png&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;How Remarkable Women Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Work &amp;amp; Life&quot; width=&quot;247&quot; height=&quot;198&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The downward spiral:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Scene:&lt;/strong&gt; You&#39;re in a meeting with a major client represented by the CEO.   As you present your proposal you see the CEO scrunch his face.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thought 1: &lt;/strong&gt; It&#39;s okay, you tell yourself. Just keep plowing ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thought 2: &lt;/strong&gt; Now he&#39;s giving you a passive face.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thought 3: &lt;/strong&gt; Uh-oh, you think. He doesn&#39;t like my ideas.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thought 4: &lt;/strong&gt; I&#39;m not going to make this deal. He doesn&#39;t like it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thought 5: &lt;/strong&gt; Oh no, now he&#39;s not even making eye contact. This is hopeless.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Thought 6: &lt;/strong&gt; I&#39;m done. McKinsey is going to fire me.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thought 7: &lt;/strong&gt; Great, I&#39;m not only getting fired, I&#39;m just a complete loser.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thought 8: &lt;/strong&gt; I&#39;m a horrible person. Not only am I getting fired now; my husband doesn&amp;rsquo;t love me either.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thought 9: &lt;/strong&gt; Forget a job and love; I&#39;m also a lousy mother.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thought 10: &lt;/strong&gt; I&#39;m a hopeless, useless human being who doesn&amp;rsquo;t deserve to live.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ever had that happen?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As Barsh explained, especially women, experience this at least once if not many times in their professional life. And it&#39;s not because they think less of themselves, she said, but because women tend to think more holistically. If one aspect of the day isn&#39;t going too well, they tend to enlarge that picture to envelop everything. Hence, the downward spiral.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What can you do to counter this? Barsh offered five steps:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Meaning: &lt;/strong&gt;Find meaning in your work and truly follow your passion. Heard that one before right? According to Barsh, the first step to pursuing your passion is optimism. &quot;Become the quintessential female optimist,&quot; she said. Tell yourself that this is not the end of the road, let alone the end of the world. &quot;Tell yourself, this is nothing. I can face this and move on,&quot; she added. When coupled with meaningful work, this optimism can work wonders.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Engage: &lt;/strong&gt;Numerous studies have found that employee engagement leads to higher productivity, innovation and better ideas. Barsh had similar advice: When you feel the downward spiral coming on you, engage with colleagues or get on the phone with a family member. &quot;It could just be a random conversation buts it&#39;s enough to clear your mind. Besides distraction always gives you a new perspective,&quot; she offered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Energize:&lt;/strong&gt; No, she doesn&amp;rsquo;t mean working out&amp;mdash;although that has known to help as well&amp;mdash;but energizing your mind by analytically looking at the positives and the setbacks to the current challenge. Noting that women tend to take adversity more emotionally and negatively, she suggested, &quot;Fire yourself from your job mentally. Come back the next morning as a &#39;new employee&#39; and you&#39;ll see a world of difference in your attitude and perspective.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Connect:&lt;/strong&gt; Connect with a network of friends and family who keep you most happy, joyous and motivated. Barsh suggested taking a step further by recruiting and retaining women who pursue personal growth. &quot;Women who network actively to keep themselves professionally and personally energetic tend to have a higher rate of success,&quot; she added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Frame:&lt;/strong&gt; Connect and reconnect the plan that didn&amp;rsquo;t work. Involve your colleagues and those who report to you. It&#39;s often said that a diverse team has the highest rate of success. &quot;Get the ideas pumping and strategically break apart your framework. Reframe, rejoin, break and reframe again. This will help you step out of the equation and solve a problem objectively rather than making it personal,&quot; she offered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;---------------------------------------------------------------&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Next:&lt;/strong&gt; Edelman releases its Good Purpose study at BSR: Almost half of surveyed consumers say they wouldn&amp;rsquo;t invest in/promote a company that doesn&amp;rsquo;t actively support a good cause. What does that mean for a company in a world connected 24/7 through social media?&lt;/p&gt;

Aman Singh Das

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