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Jason Dent via Unsplash

How to Turn Devastation into Hope Like an Artist

A friend recently sent me a video clip of Nick Cave’s interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that offers a powerful lesson on turning devastation into hope, while dovetailing with my previous blog about how much business leaders have to learn from artists.

Now, I’m quick to admit that I didn’t know Nick Cave from the caveman on that insurance commercial, even though it turns out we are roughly the same age. But he’s had an incredible career as a musician, starting with punk and gothic rock before his music evolved into something more mainstream (but still rock). He’s also written plays, novels, an adult comic book, and non-fiction.

What struck me about Cave was how transparently he spoke to emotional issues like pain and suffering while connecting them to inspirational ideals like hope and love. Speaking transparently and empathetically about the real challenges of life earns trust and helps those we lead navigate life and work more effectively and more joyfully. Artists like Nick Cave have a gift for doing that, and we can learn from them.

If you are familiar with Cave, you know the loss of two sons informs much of his music and writing. One form of his art, for example, are his letters that address questions fans have about life. He doesn’t claim to be all-knowing, but he’s willing to transparently speak from experience, just as we should do as leaders.

On The Late Show, Cave read his response to someone who was feeling “empty” and “cynical” about life and losing “faith in other people.” Cave spoke to how we can learn the most from the disappointments and devastation in life if we tap into hope and express love. And it was not only a message we might pass on to others as leaders, but one we should internalize.

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“Unlike cynicism,” Cave wrote, “hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism.”

Hope, he said, leads to acts of love that keep “the devil down in the hole” and remind us that the world is worth believing in. That’s a message all leaders should believe, share and internalize. It’s not just a truth that he shares in poetic fashion, but it’s good business. Even better, it’s good for humanity.

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