“If we all believed that just bringing our little piece, whatever it is, could make a difference, it really does have a really positive impact,” says Joce Goto, Chief Operations Officer at giving App, Charitabl.
Joce is joined by Mark Jones, Chief Storyteller at the ImpactInstitute; and Max Jeganathan, former advisor to Federal Government, to speak about how we can both grasp and wield the power of positive influence in this thought-provoking Helping Hands panel discussion.
It’s almost as if we’re wired to be negative, suggests Max, whose vast experience in politics, as a lawyer, and now as a social commentator, has given him ample opportunity to observe our “negativity bias”. He cites the interesting fact that negativity works in domains like X (formerly Twitter) where posts are twenty percent more likely to be retweeted if they are overtly negative.
How can we equip ourselves to not only quieten the influence of negativity, but to raise the volume on the positive?
Max says the answer is found in our mindset.
“Two simple rules that I like to have in place are that; (1.) things are never as bad as they seem, and secondly, even amidst the negativity, there’s always something we can do. There’s always something constructive, something positive we can do.”
Positive influence must start somewhere, and its benefits transcend the difficulties of any context, Mark suggests, whether that’s in business, community or in our personal lives.
The philosophy of positivity lies at the core of everything the ImpactInstitute does. Whether it’s in marketing, communications and storytelling, in impact advisory and measurement, or through the events they facilitate, their passion is to see brands and businesses empowered to talk about the good they do and the positive contributions they’re making.
“It’s an expression of our values, and who we are, and we want to make a difference,” Mark says. “Our focus has been around – how do we amplify that impact that other people are having? … The key to it for me, as a leader, is that I’m an optimist. And what I love about optimism in this context is that it says, yes, it’s hard, but there’s also a solution.”
Within business, Joce adds, positivity is something people are not only searching for but are coming to expect and have the power to demand.
“As consumers, we have the power to speak into those businesses … If there is a brand you want to engage with, and you can’t find what their ethical, moral plan is clearly stated, I recommend asking them about it … I encourage people to have empathy for businesses who are trying to get it right as well (because) businesses aren’t perfect.”
Our desire to search for and lean into the positive stems from our deep human longing for something better, Max says. Quoting sources from poetry and his Christian faith that inspire him, Max demonstrates that to find positivity, whatever the source, is to find hope, because they are inextricably linked.
Appealing to hope is the way to stay focused on moving forward, Max concludes. When we take the time to look to constructive, positive voices who help us see living, breathing examples of positivity, we have examples from whom we can seek inspiration to be positive, too.
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