Personal Hope Shapes Career Progression

Although personal hope is a concept that has received significant attention in research, little has been done to investigate the role of personal hope in career advancement. Organizational leaders are often unsuccessful in reaching, or being effective at, senior leadership levels. Concepts that differentiate organizational leaders are important to the field of organizational leadership. This study focused on the role of personal hope in helping leaders successfully advance in organizations. This study used a qualitative approach in interviewing 12 senior level leaders in the selected, global, for-profit organization. The 10 interview questions helped explore personal descriptions of the understanding and experience of hope, particularly its role in influencing the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of organizational leaders. The results of this study indicated that hope can be increased or decreased and is positively influenced by supportive contexts and relationships. Also, that it is a leadership responsibility to positively influence hope in organizational contexts through care, empathy, and shared vision and goals. Participants in this study attributed hope development to the experience of overcoming and learning from setbacks. Results also showed that hope positively influences realizing career goals or outcomes, but career advancement was not a main career goal provided by participants.