Cynicism Is Not Wisdom: Why Hope Matters More

Forbes

19-07-2025

Hope
Under Pep Guardiola, Fernandinho became notorious for subtle tactical fouls in Manchester City's midfield. He had an uncanny ability to escape the referees attention, but by pulling shirts, heel tripping, standing across attackers he disrupted momentum and preserved Guardiola's possession-based system. If you're a fan, he was a master, but to everyone else it was cynical advantage-seeking at the expense of sportsmanship and fair-play.
Playing fair has been going out of fashion for decades, whereas cynicism is now hotter than a stolen Tesla. For example, Donald Trump's approach to power reflects a deeply cynical view of human nature. His worldview assumes that anyone smart will be out to enrich themselves, that manipulation and obfuscation are survival tactics, and that honour is naïve. Paying taxes is, of course, anathema:
'I've often said… I fight like hell to pay as little tax as possible… I'm a businessman. And that's the way you're supposed to do it. That makes me smart.'
Seen this way public office is just another opportunity for personal gain. Such a worldview, rooted in distrust, opportunism and a disregard for the commons, legitimises grift by framing it as natural and inevitable. By contrast, both George Washington and John F. Kennedy made highly visible gestures to separate public service from personal enrichment. Washington initially turned down a salary, reluctantly accepted it after pressure and made clear his discomfort with profiting from office. Kennedy donated his entire presidential salary to charity, signalling that leadership was a duty, not a deal. These acts reflect a different ontology of leadership grounded in trust, self-restraint, and the belief that honour is an essential character trait for high office.
Cynicism Stunts Growth
In the world of work cynicism is an everyday, everywhere occurrence, especially in large, bureaucratic organisations where decision making is slow, opaque and hierarchical. In these environments expecting bosses to make capricious, mean or short-sighted decisions can be easily mistaken for intelligence. 'That's never gonna happen' sounds like hard-worn experience or sophisticated realism.
It's easy, for instance, to imagine the skepticism of millions of talented and hard working women through the 1970's and 1980's who were denied promotions or opportunities because executive roles were reserved for men. Internalizing a message such as 'No matter how hard you work, you'll never be promoted. The system is rigged' seems entirely natural. But however understandable, that attitude perpetuates the status quo. Instead, it fell to the relentless efforts of thousands more women who channelled their frustration and anger to overturn archaic laws, challenge corporate Boards and CEOs and eventually unleash the talents of their daughters.
Although people differ in their propensity to develop cynicism, we know it is the consequence of repeated disconnects between what leaders say and what they do. It grows in a bed of unmet expectations, the feeling of being powerless, being ignored for their efforts, or toiling in a purposeless role. If self-interest is rewarded over integrity, then caring becomes naïve and detachment is a rational response.
Research shows that cynical employees exhibit lower organisational commitment, leading to higher rates of quitting and reduced discretionary effort. Cynicism also erodes job satisfaction and increases emotional exhaustion. Cynical employees are significantly more likely to resist organisational change, not because they dislike change per se, but because they distrust the motives behind it. Cynical climates also suppress the helpful, voluntary contributions that underpin healthy, productive workplaces. The result is a corrosive disengagement that no engagement survey alone will catch.
I think it was Freud who said 'Cynicism is the last defence against the loss of hope.'
The last defence against the loss of hope
Far from being soft or sentimental, hope is a measurable, strategic resource—especially in leadership.
Psychologist C.R. Snyder defined hope not as passive optimism but as a cognitive process involving three components:
In high-uncertainty contexts, leaders who signal hope—by articulating a future worth striving for and showing how to get there—can boost team performance, resilience, and psychological wellbeing. Research by Shane Lopez has linked higher hope in leaders to:
What followers want.
Cynicism is particularly contagious when it infects leadership levels. Leaders who lie, or fudge the facts, or deny what employees know to be breed deflation and resignation rather than the inspiration they crave. They are left wielding the tools of instrumentality: in-groups and cliques, buying effort through more money, coercive employment agreements and suits against whistleblowers.
Consider that Meta knew, in microscopic detail, that its platforms caused harm, particularly to young women, by amplifying distress and algorithmically promoting harmful advice. As the Wall Street Journal noted: 'Time and again, despite congressional hearings, its own pledges and numerous media exposés, the company didn't fix them.'
Followers want leaders who demonstrate trust, are honest, who aren't obviously self-serving and greedy at the expense of others, and who demonstrate humility. Organisational psychology has shown time and again that psychological well-being, and sustained work performance stem from three basic psychological needs that must be satisfied for individuals to thrive: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
The author and essayist David Foster Wallace posed a warning as a joke about not seeing the environment in which we operate: 'There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, 'Morning, boys. How's the water?' And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, 'What the hell is water?''
Good leaders make the water visible. They help others believe we are able to make things better, that people matter and are valued, and that their individual and collective efforts are worth it. This takes character, or what Theodore Roosevelt pointed to when he wrote in 1910: