“His optimism is also remarkable and contagious. We went through many difficult periods over the years due to exponential growth, reliability concerns, etc. and his tendency to see solutions wherever others see problems is simply wonderful.”
It's amazing how one person can be such a blessing for your life.
I’ve worked on teams with and without these people, and the difference in velocity and overall achievement is starkly contrasted. So much of what teams accomplish is based not on some rigid parameters determining concrete outputs, but what teams individually and collectively believe they can do together. When failure inevitably occurs, they respond by yet again uncovering opportunity and optimism. Other teams often reel and suffer major hits to morale.
I suppose this is true in personal life as well. So much of what you do in life is a product of what you believe you can do and how you respond to obstructions and failures. On a team, leadership which handles this particularly well seem to have a cumulative positive impact by contagion I suppose.