Nothing you and I are working on should be viewed as political. And yet, so many of our causes have been taken hostage as wedge issues. While I can appreciate that people have different ideas on the best way to address societal problems, it can be tough to see progress halted as a result. As I prepare for this week's Collective Impact Summit, I'm reflecting on an experience that might inspire optimism, as well as the three things it taught me about bridging the political gap.

For Goodness Sakes recently produced an outdoor and digital display campaign for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ad Council. And as we wait for the creative to appear across the country, I’m reminded of the most essential element in any behavior changing endeavor: Relentless Optimism.

Right now. That’s what our brains care most about. Overvaluing short-term benefits vs. longer term consequences is a critical culprit in many of the problems you’re working to solve. This is present bias — the hardwiring that fuels substance misuse, stunts environmental conservation, and impedes preventative healthcare. But it also undermines leadership within your organization. Here's how to overcome it.

There will always be naysayers, and now is an uncertain time for state agencies and nonprofits. Nevertheless, there are executive directors bullish about the future. Blending optimism, determination, and some good ole anti-social stubbornness, they reshape their expectations. It’s a mindset. A type. They’re rebels. And here are six things they have in common.

As children on the playground or adults climbing the corporate ladder, we’re taught that quitting is a no-no. And organizations can be particularly bad at knowing when to cut certain losses. But quitting an underperforming initiative or counter-productive process might be the best thing you could do for your team (and yourself). If that idea scares you, let me offer a new perspective and some examples that could energize your organization.

Just like a network of air hubs is necessary to traverse the globe, it takes a multitude of agencies and non-profits to navigate our most complex social issues. For example, tackling homelessness may need to involve any combination of mental health, addiction, workforce readiness and financial literacy partners. And coordinating that legion of players can be as frenetic as anything that happens in an air traffic control tower. That sounds like a recipe for infectious burnout and turnover. So I was shocked when I saw it foster the complete opposite.

Today, I want to single out a subset of leaders who have been directly touched by the issue they are working to solve. It’s somehow different when you’ve been in the shoes of those you’re trying to help. The desire to turn adversity into action is natural. Yet turning reaction into reality is rare. And that rarity offers us some valuable insights.

In some respects, the nonprofit sector has even the most diplomatic Southerner beat. What we say isn’t what we mean. And these are the three most common euphemisms I hear from organizations of every size and locale.

Growing up, TV was my window to a wider world. It’s not that my own needed escaping. I was just fascinated by the twists others’ lives took. From a single mother waiting tables at a diner in Phoenix to a junk dealer arguing with his adult son in Watts, I heard different dialects and toured circumstances far removed from the TV room of my middle-class home in Spartanburg, South Carolina.