I find that pessimists miss a critical factor a lot of times. Things that are empirically bad are just going to suck. Things that are just "hard" are going to

I find that pessimists miss a critical factor a lot of times. Things that are empirically bad are just going to suck. Things that are just "hard" are going to suck too. In business RARELY are things actually bad (site outage, layoff) and often just "hard" (I need you to work late). When things are hard you can say they are HARD and let them be HARD and use the occasion as a chance to create camaraderie. Stuck late in the office, then start singing show tunes badly - bring in food and beer (if appropriate) or good coffee the day after - hard times build great teams if they aren't "every day" Find a things to have with your team to make it more entertaining - I worked in an office that ran on the back of quoting film, and there is a film quote for EVERY situation. A good friend of mine works in a "nerf gun" office, and I used to work in a place where "team lunch" was a thing that was sacred (you would leave every day for an hour). Alone these things don't do much but when it is HARD (or bad) the activity restores a sense of normalcy for you and your staff. Be honest about hard, sometimes you just need to STFU about bad (layoff).