Your attitude determines your altitude – in business and in life. You can’t fix someone else’s attitude for them. But this awesome adage is a great suggestion that you can put in front of anyone who requires an attitude adjustment. I want to discuss a few of the many ways each of us can create a winning attitude each day. It’s what leaders do.
Marcus Aurelius, the great philosopher who ruled the Roman Empire, said it simply: “Our life is what our thoughts make it”.
Dale Carnegie, speaking to that quote said: “Yes, if we think happy thoughts, we will be happy. If we think miserable thoughts, we will be miserable. If we think fear thoughts, we will be fearful. If we think sickly thoughts we probably will be ill. If we think failure, we will certainly fail. If we wallow in self-pity, everyone will want to shun us and avoid us”.
Am I advocating a Pollyanna attitude toward all our problems? No. Life isn’t that simple. But I am advocating – in the strongest terms – that we take on a positive attitude instead of a negative one.
Mental attitude - the power we hold in our heads. Reality can be changed dramatically by a single thought. In food the adage is you are what you eat. In terms of leadership, it’s more likely you are what you think. Contrary to what people want to believe, outside influences don’t usually determine your happiness or success, rather it is how we react to those influences – good or bad. So how do you alter your reactions to those outside forces?
Make how you react a conscious priority, which means practice daily. Laughter is vital. When things are going south, keep everything in perspective and relax. I laugh. Others throw up their hands. Whole industries get very cynical.
Positive self-confident feelings not only help you get more; they also make others want to be associated with you. People are attracted to others who have an upbeat outlook, who have a can-do attitude. Constant complainers don’t collect an easy following.
One of a leader’s most important jobs is to set a positive and self-confident tone, exuding the attitude that failure is not an option. A positive attitude is the cornerstone of leadership. It’s the same confidence that a quarterback, a golfer, or a tennis star projects every time they come out of the locker room.
To gain strength from the positive and not be sapped by the negative, here are a few ideas:
Focus on the 90% of your staff who will run with your outlook and your plan - don't let the "negative nellies" drown you or contaminate your team.
Tap your spiritual essence at work too - use your spirit and your heart to move you and your work forward.
Break the negative energy cycle – if you see yourself falling down or in a rut, shake it up, change the routine and do something fast that lifts you up. When you see one of your staff members in a rut of unproductive or unprofessional behavior address it, don’t let it fester.
Active listening – takes time. Work at it, to hear what your staff wants. Many times just by being heard, issues can go away and people really make a big turnaround.
You must be the emotional manager of your office - not your assistant, not the new young blood you just hired. In a family, mom and dad must be the emotional managers or chaos rules the home. In your business, you must wear that mantel, albeit reluctantly at times. It’s part of your leadership role and power. Refine it, as well as your reactions to outside events, and you’ll see the culture around you shift to the positive.
Jim Collins points out in Good to Great: When in doubt, don’t hire – keep looking. You can’t grow revenues consistently faster than your ability to get enough of the right people to implement that growth and still become a fabulous company. So unless recruits for the open position have that can-do attitude and are a strong fit for your company in who they are – don’t hire them. The skills can be taught; the and-then-some positive attitude cannot.
As a friend put it recently: “The prerequisite is attitude. Attitude is the one thing we can’t change in employees. You’ve got a good attitude or you don’t. Given adequate ability and desire to learn, everything else can be taught to employees with good attitudes. I have tried many times to teach good attitudes and have come to the conclusion it is about as easy as making a mud fence.”
A poor attitude will pull you down and with it your professional results. A positive attitude will see you over the rough spots and energize you to lift your results to new heights – to match your vision. Whether you need an attitude adjustment a couple of times a day, once a week or only occasionally, never forget that your attitude determines your altitude. Don’t let outside people or events drag yours down.
