With an attitude

 

The way we look at things can make all the difference between growth and destruction.

 
We all have the power to choose our attitude, but it’s not simply about deciding to be positive. Certainly there is much research linking the beneficial impact of positive behaviour on people around us – particularly the link between employee attitudes and customer satisfaction. However, relentless enthusiasm, excessive cheeriness and overdone positivity can be just plain annoying!

Every attitude – from pessimism and optimism, fear and trust, arrogance and humility, reactivity and responsiveness to impatience and tolerance – has its negative and positive affects. A small dose of pessimism in one team member for example may ensure decisions are based on realistic expectations. So it is about consciously managing our attitudes to find the balance that benefits everyone.

This starts with self-awareness. In learning to understand how we think, how we translate that into action and how that impacts others, we can make changes. Without self-awareness, we’re likely to be unconsciously preventing our professional development through acting out of habit. If we are automatically judgemental, for example, we may be unconsciously souring relationships and preventing new learning. The solution is to balance that tendency with a dose of acceptance and curiosity.

Mindfully managing our habitual attitudes can be challenging. Take one of the most destructive workplace attitudes – arrogance – dominant in very intelligent people who have high expectations of themselves and others. Unmanaged arrogance leads to blaming others for problems which causes conflict that will rapidly destroy a team, even an entire business. Indeed, research shows that it only takes 10 days from the start of an internal conflict for it to significantly reduce customer service and satisfaction. In today’s competitive climate, blaming is simply unacceptable.

Conversely, some of the most beneficial workplace attitudes to foster include honesty, open-mindedness, courtesy and warmth (especially important in the service industry), a willingness to listen and learn and a respect for ourselves and for others.
Ultimately, growing our professional life involves constant inquiry – as one of New Zealand’s leading senior management researchers Professor Paul McDonald of Victoria University says, “If we stopped questioning, we would stop evolving as a species.”
 
An excellent ‘inquiry’ tool to help us identify and manage our attitudes is the ‘Judger/Learner’ chart, created by organisational development expert Dr Marilee Goldberg. (See chart) Using this you can ask yourself where you fall on the attitude scale and find the balance that will optimise your relationships and performance.
Alongside these aspects of attitude management, following are some key points to consider in developing the right frame of mind for going to work.
 
Personality
While our personality traits may be inherited to some degree, that doesn’t mean we can’t manage them. Being honest about who we are allows us to take responsibility for how we act. Is that chip on our shoulder making us moody and reactive? Or can we be more willing to work with others, to listen, smile and be friendly? The focus should be on mindfully managing any annoying habits and enhancing the best bits!

Strengths
If we know our core strengths and work to them, we will perform better, enjoy our job and be better valued. Whether we are naturally resilient and ambitious, rational and decisive, or someone with great emotional intelligence and inter-personal skills, we should target ourselves in a way that utilises our natural qualities.

Leadership
We are all leaders in our own right, whether it’s in our job description or not, and all have the power to affect outcomes through our behaviour. Explore and nurture the qualities of great leaders and consider how you can apply them. Be a visionary, be inspirational, care for others, bring out the strengths of others, mentor, coach and share knowledge, seek fairness and ethical balance and advocate on behalf of others.
A great leader can be all these, and effective leadership is about knowing when to bring each tool out in our work lives to make a difference.

Feelings and Actions
Between stimulus and action there is a gap, which is where we need to spend more time. Very often, poor actions are an automatic reaction rather than a mindful response. Learn to check in on the ‘gap’ and change how we act to ensure a better outcome.
Reflective Learning
Professional people in the social services sector are taught to be reflective learners, a simple yet invaluable process that involves asking ourselves each day what worked and what didn’t, why and what we could have done differently. Ideally, we also share this reflection with someone we trust to see if they agree.

Communication
While attitudes are crucial, don’t forget communication. People who can communicate well and build and maintain good relationships are essential assets in any workplace – yet we tend to take these skills for granted as something we’re either naturally good at, or not. As with attitudes, good communication is a choice and considering most workplace problems result from a breakdown in communication – this is a key area of which to be mindful.
At the end of a day at work, whether it was good or bad, we can ask the question: "What did I do to create that result?" And if it was great – do more!
 
Ali Tocker
Director of Tocker Associates Limited, a New Zealand based consultancy with partners in Australia working with leaders, teams and organisations to optimise effectiveness. For more information:www.tocker.net.nz