If someone asked you what people need most from their leaders, you'd probably say trust. Or stability. Or clear communication. When Gallup asked this question across 52 countries - accounting for 76% of the world's adult population - the answer that dominated everything else was hope. At 56%, it wasn't even close. Here's why that matters.

Most of us grow up understanding hope as an emotion - a warm feeling that arrives when we want to believe things will work out. The psychologist C. R. Snyder saw it differently. Hope, he argued, is a way of thinking about how to reach our goals and create the future we want. Here's how it works.

On 4 March 2025, the United Nations General Assembly designated 12 July as the International Day of Hope - a day to celebrate and promote hope as a guiding principle for individuals, communities, and nations. But what does that actually mean for founders and leaders building purpose-led businesses? More than you might think.

Anna arrived in London with nothing but her catering skills and a hope of going home. Two years later, she'd built a business projecting £420,000 a year — and created community for displaced Ukrainian women along the way. For Refugee Week 2026, her full story, told in two parts.