Leadership Skills in the Workplace
Maintaining Gains Made
LEADERSHIP BRIEFS
12 Your Attitude
Objective To help you get out of a slump and improve your attitude Lesson The attitude of the leader has a huge impact on the culture, environment, and mood of the department or organization. The leader’s attitude tends to spread and affect others dramatically. Think of it: the last time your boss was in a bad mood, weren’t you particularly on your good behavior that day? Conversely, the last time the boss was in a really good mood, wasn’t work fun, and didn’t things go smoothly that day? Many people believe that they can only display positive attitudes and emotions when things are going positively for them. They believe events lead them to have certain unavoidable attitudes. The truth is really the opposite. You often do not have control over what happens to you, and sometimes things don’t go right. Regardless of what has happened in your work, personal life, or the world at large, you always have a choice about your attitude. Attitude is a choice. You absolutely must choose a positive attitude as the leader every time you encounter a challenge. No one wants to work for or with someone with a negative attitude. Ask anyone that you meet! The choice you make determines your behavior. When you choose positive attitudes, even when things aren’t going so well, you actually help yourself to feel better. So when your own attitude is negative, choose a positive thought instead, and plant it firmly in your mind. Repeat your positive thought over and over again. Here are three attitude examples. Compare and contrast the positive with the negative. Example 1
Positive
I’m happy. This is a great day. I know I’m going to have a good day today.
Negative
I’m not at all happy. What a rotten day. Everything I touch is going wrong. Example 2
Positive
I’m laughing because I made another silly mistake. But I can fix it and keep on learning.
Negative
How embarrassing! I made another mistake. I feel foolish and don’t know what to do, but I’d better not let anybody know. Example 3
Positive
I’ll keep smiling because it seems to spark positive responses in others. I feel better and so do they.
Negative
I don’t feel like smiling. Life is awful, and you’d better stay out of my way. Questions for Group Discussion - If you feel negative emotions (worried, angry, hopeless) is it possible for you to “act” like you feel good? If so, how does that impact your mood?
- What instances can you think of where a positive mood was contagious?
- What instances can you recall when a negative mood was contagious?
Personal and Group Actions Work on positively impacting your team by consciously adopting a very positive attitude every morning for one week. After this experiment, discuss results with your group. What changes did you notice?
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