I was having lunch with a dear friend the other day, and we were commenting on this ‘festive feel’, as we felt it in Vancouver. Perhaps it’s my own projection, but there is an increasing confidence in our economies, I think. The Economist magazine, in their “The World in 2014” edition, write, “Boom times will not be returning in 2014, but for most companies business should be a bit better.” Of course, time will tell, but I do think that we are on the upswing from the double or even triple dip (as some pundits called the ‘recession’) globally since 2008.

As I’ve written in this space before, it may help to remember that the economy works on only two emotions; fear and greed. For the last 5 years we’ve been focused on fear. I think that we’ll start to see a move towards greed by the end of 2014, if not before. Neither emotion, fear or greed, is healthy for us a species in the extreme or in the long term, but I wonder if we are at our best in the oscillation between the two, when we are moving towards fear we might find wisdom and prudence and when moving towards greed we might find creativity and strength? We are likely moving into a period of creativity and strength, and there is a collective confidence growing.

And it is this growing confidence that is so contagious. So as a leader in your organization or team, I suggest, fan the embers of confidence in your group. Give credit for good ideas, even those that don’t pan out, give verbal ‘pats on the back’, thank your people sincerely and regularly, and be a model of encouragement and compassion. And what you’ll find is that this time next year, your business will likely be stronger, your community will likely be stronger, and your province/state and the whole country will likely be stronger. In the end, it is in fact, all about you!

And make a note in your calendar for December 9th 2014, are we better off then than we are now economically? How much of an impact has fanning the embers of confidence had on your team, your organization, your community, your province/state and our country(ies). I’ll do the same, and we’ll see what happens.

In the meantime, let’s build confidence in ourselves and in our teams this week, one person at a time.