In numerous earlier posts (such as Seeing Events Through a Rainmaker's Eyes, Part 1 and Part 2), I have observed that rainmakers are positive thinkers. Things we see as bad, such as being stood up for a meeting, they see as neutral or even positive. (When someone stands you up, it often creates a small chit that you can collect later.) Things we see as neutral, such as an extra attendee at a client meeting, they may see as positive. Positive thinking gives them a resilience that allows them to get up and try again and yet again until they win.

This all may sound Pollyanna-ish, but it's not. When interviewing people who have observed rainmakers, they often note the rainmakers' optimism, sometimes mentioning in a tone of mild surprise that the rainmakers' optimism often proved to be well-founded. The rainmakers' positive outlook is shaped and reinforced through experience. They know not to take an unreturned phone call too seriously, because they've had to deal with so many of them.

When rainmakers apply their optimism foolishly, they are as likely to get hurt as anyone else. Our data base of rainmakers includes several who went bankrupt through misplaced optimism, often in the form of a real estate deal. Confident that they would sell boatloads of new work, they signed leases for space to accommodate all of the employees they would have to hire to do it. When the work didn't appear, they were stuck with the real estate costs.

I make this point for two reasons. First, it is a caution to rainmakers and those who work with them to question the rainmakers' optimism, if they seem to be applying it to areas beyond their expertise or to be brushing off the risk of catastrophic consequences, if they prove to be wrong.

My second reason for making this point is to deter anyone inclined to use a colleague's negative thinking as a brickbat to beat them with. I've had this done to me earlier in my career and seen it done to others. Branding someone has a negative thinker and berating them for it is a loathsome and ineffective form of bullying. There is a place for negative thinking in an organization, and when appropriately applied, should be encouraged and rewarded. When misapplied, the reaction should be education, not derision. For those interested in this subject, I recommend Martin Seligman's excellent book, Learned Optimism. (I have no financial interest in the sale of this book. I do have a financial interest in the sale of my book, Creating Rainmakers, which also addresses the subject, but decline to recommend it out of modesty and fear of being hauled into court by the blog police.)