When you lead with positivity, transformation happens—both within you and around you.
While leadership is often linked to strategy, targets, and performance, its real strength lies in empathy and encouragement. Every young person has the capacity to lead with positivity by learning to serve others with integrity, faith, and optimism.
In this post, we’ll explore what it truly means to lead with positivity, its impact, and how you can cultivate it in your daily life.
What It Really Means to Lead with Positivity
Think about the leaders who have influenced you most—they may be teachers, mentors, or even friends. Their titles mattered less than their attitude. To lead with positivity means creating space for growth, belonging, and trust.
Many believe leadership requires authority and toughness, but genuine leaders know that strength is found in humility and kindness. Leadership without positivity becomes control; leadership with positivity becomes inspiration.
Choosing to lead with positivity means believing in people’s potential even when results aren’t immediate. It’s about guiding others with hope and consistency, especially when life feels uncertain.
What the World Says About Positive Leadership
A global Gallup study surveyed people across 52 countries and territories—representing 76% of the world’s adult population and 86% of its GDP. Respondents were asked two questions:
- What leader has the most positive influence on your daily life?
- Please list three words that best describe what this person contributes to your life.
The answers were strikingly consistent. The three words most commonly used to describe positive leaders revolved around hope, trust, compassion, and stability.
- Hope stood out as the dominant need, appearing in 56% of all responses.
- Trust followed with 33%.
- Compassion (7%) and stability (4%) made up the rest.
This shows that people don’t just look for leaders who are successful—they crave leaders who care. Those who lead with positivity inspire hope and make others feel secure enough to thrive.
Leadership Beyond the Workplace
You don’t need to go further to come across someone who may need some sort of guidance. That isn’t a pessimistic approach to life. Rather, it is a constant reminder that everyone needs help in this life. There are people out there who need to be uplifted through your talents.
When you lead with positivity, you become an influence wherever you are. You can lead your family by showing patience and love. You can lead your peers by offering encouragement and understanding. Also, you can even lead a community project by fostering unity and trust among volunteers.
In fact, leadership is not about status—it’s about service. The best leaders are those who recognize the potential in others and help them develop confidence in themselves. That mindset is essential to bring together an organization that is cohesive and focused.
Love: The Core of Positive Leadership
At the heart of every great leader is one defining quality—love. To lead with positivity means to see others through eyes of compassion, treating them with dignity and respect.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught in his talk “Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear”:
“We might even think that to be controlling, manipulative, and harsh will be for the good of others. Not so, for the Lord has made it clear that ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance.’”
This principle shows that leadership is never about dominance—it’s about love that uplifts, faith that inspires, and patience that strengthens.
When you lead with positivity, love becomes your compass. It changes how you respond to challenges and how you treat those around you. Love doesn’t erase problems, but it helps you face them with courage, empathy, and peace.
Learning from the Heiss Mentors
One of the highlights of Cumorah Academy’s semesters is the chance to learn from inspiring mentors who live the principles they teach. Recently, students had the opportunity to meet Karen and Kurt Heiss, a couple who embody what it means to lead with positivity.
Their story began in 1974, when they met in a college chemistry class. Karen was the only woman in her Chemical Engineering program—a fact that made her unforgettable to every professor. After Kurt returned from his mission in Thailand, they began dating and built a life grounded in faith and service.
Karen chose to focus on raising their children while Kurt pursued medicine, becoming a respected Pediatric Surgeon. Together, they showed students that leadership is not limited to professional achievements—it’s also found in the home, in relationships, and in quiet moments of compassion.
Students like Allanes Matzenbacher from Brazil shared how the Heiss mentors inspired them:
“I learned a lot from them about good communication, being positive leaders, and always helping the people around us.”
Another student, Elisa Vasquez from Mexico, added:
“They are good listeners and offer positive motivation, making sure you remember how valuable you are.”
The Heiss mentors reminded everyone that the best leaders are those who make others feel seen and valued.
How You Can Lead with Positivity in Everyday Life
Leading with positivity is something anyone can practice—no title required. Here are three ways you can start today:
- Listen before you speak. Positive leaders take time to understand others. Listening builds trust and shows respect.
- Focus on solutions, not problems. When challenges arise, guide discussions toward progress and hope. Your optimism can shift the energy of an entire team.
- Celebrate small victories. Whether it’s your own growth or someone else’s achievement, acknowledgment nurtures motivation and connection.
When you apply these principles in daily life—whether at school, work, or home—you’ll notice that people naturally begin to trust and follow your example.
The Power of Faith in Positive Leadership
Faith gives leaders the courage to lead with positivity when the path isn’t clear. It helps them hold on to vision, hope, and resilience even when results take time.
To lead with faith is to trust that your actions matter, even when outcomes are uncertain. It’s what turns challenges into opportunities for learning and setbacks into moments of strength.
People are naturally drawn to leaders who believe in a brighter future. Their faith sparks hope in others and builds communities of encouragement and purpose. When you combine faith with positivity, your leadership becomes not just effective—but deeply inspiring.
Be the Change the World Needs
The world is full of challenges, but it’s also full of opportunities for leaders who choose to uplift rather than control, to listen rather than dictate, and to love rather than fear.
At Cumorah Academy, we invite you to become that kind of leader—to lead with positivity, faith, and purpose.
Join our next semester and discover how you can grow as a leader, build meaningful connections, and make a lasting impact on the world.
Apply today at Cumorah Academy and start leading with positivity wherever you go.
Written by Fernando L. Ferreira Jr.
Supervision by Kamila Uberto Fullmer
