Optimism and leadership have subsequently been found to have a direct link with
organizational performance (McColl-Kennedy & Anderson, 2002). Optimism was juxtaposed
with Seligman’s (1998) ‘‘helplessness theory’’ that stated when individuals do not believe they
have any influence over the outcome of a situation they will be less likely to exert the required
effort to be successful. However, Thiel, Connelly, and Griffith (2012) distinguished between
helplessness and pessimism in the context of leadership, by stating