Attitude is Everything, Crush Negativity by Thinking!

Personal Brand – Attitude is Everything

Attitude is everything in how you shape your character and personal brand.  How does your personal brand impact the organization, individuals and yourself?  Discover your own potential for leadership. There is so much literature on branding, brand you and other aspects of personal branding out in the web sphere, but I recently found one statement that clearly articulates personal branding in one sentence. I found the biography of Margaret Thatcher interesting in her development as an individual and leader.  One of her many quotes relate to your personal brand and your attitude.

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. What we think, we become”.

I have used the statement moving from “complaint to commitment”, so much of today’s business climate and corporate culture is based on who care more about feelings than they do about attitude, thoughts and ideas.  Create a learning environment that moves past mediocrity and focuses on the commitment of thinking, new ideas and positivity. 

When You Can Control or Influence the Negativity

When you can control or influence the situation, use a systematic problem-solving process with the affected employees to improve the identified areas of negativity or complaint. Do this as quickly as you can to determine that negativity exists.

·         Identify any aspects of the situation that you can impact including providing feedback in your organization about the negative impact that is occurring. Sometimes you can influence an issue or a decision if you practice personal, professional courage and speak your mind.

·         Listen, listen, listen. Often people just need a sounding board. Be visible and available to staff. Proactively schedule group discussion sessions, town meetings, "lunches with the manager," or one-on-one blocks of time.

·         Challenge pessimistic thinking and negative beliefs about people, the organization, and the work area. Don't let negative, false statements go unchallenged. If the statements are true, provide the rationale, the corporate thinking, and the events that are responsible for the negative circumstances. Share everything you know about a situation to build trust with the workforce – take the emotion out and drive with facts.

·         Ask open-ended questions to determine the cause, and the scope of the negative feelings or reaction. Maybe it's not as bad as people think; maybe their interpretation of events is faulty. Helping people identify exactly what they feel negatively about is the first step in solving the problem. You can't solve a fog of unhappiness. Help people create options, feel included, and feel part of the communication and problem solving.  

If the negativity emanates from an individual, as a manager or performance leader you can:

·         Inform the employee about the negative impact their negativity is having on co-workers and the department.

·         Take the emotion out of it and use fact - use specific examples that describe behaviors the employee can do something about.

·         Avoid becoming defensive. Don’t take the employee’s negative words or attitude personally.

·         Focus on creating solutions. Don’t focus on everything that is wrong and negative; focus instead on creative options for positive morale. If the person is unwilling to hold this discussion, and you feel you have fairly heard her out, end the discussion.

·         Focus on the positive aspects and contributions the individual brings to the work setting, not the negativity. Help the employee build their self-image and capacity to contribute.

How is your Personal Brand contributing - Recognize Your Potential Part in the Negativity Cycle

·         Know yourself well enough to recognize internally when you are becoming negative.

·         Become aware of work situations in which you typically find yourself becoming defensive or negative. Because you are aware of them, try to recognize when you are reacting and avoid your typical negative reaction.  

·         Take a time-out or walk away by yourself when you have dealt with a stressful situation.

·         Spend some time alone thinking every day about the positive aspects of your work and life. You don't want to spend all of your time focused on negative thinking. If there is nothing positive to think about, examine the life and the brand you are choosing to create.

·         Learn to grow and create a learning environment. Focus on the big picture; don't get bogged down in the day-to-day.

As I have stated in other posts, “control is an illusion”. Recognize that the only thing you are truly in charge of is how you choose to react to and in any situation.  How are you going to breakthrough the clutter of negativity and let your personal brand shine with optimism?

Not So Happy with Happy with Average?

Leadership has often been governed by the aspect of control.  Good leaders elevate their personal brand through influence.  Control is an illusion that elusive for people seeking dominance over a situation.  Influence requires education, empathy and motivation. 

My leadership brand is focused on pushing people to achieve goals they did not think were possible – both as an individual and a group.  This drive emanates from my passion to break through the norms and desire to work with only the best.   The way I characterize the best people and you know this as well…to work with people that are interested and interesting.

The people that are happy with average invest their passions in other aspects of their lives.  I have been using the term “transactional” more than I should over the past two years, but ultimately it relates back to the concept of being happy with average and the acceptance of mediocrity.  Leaders and people of influence need to exude their personal brands to squelch mediocrity and drive people to achieve extraordinary things. I’ve learned over the years that when you have really good people, you don’t have to coddle them.  When you change the culture through your personal brand and leadership style – influence can surpass your own expectations. By expecting your friends, peers, direct report to do great things, you can get them to do great things – it is all in the attitude and perceptions of your brand.

Managers I have spoken with in multiple organizations over the past several years bear witness to the proliferation of mediocrity. Managers are so polite that mediocre people feel comfortable sticking around – something that I call a country club atmosphere.  This is not about being abusive in your management style, but to shape your personal and leadership brand based on influence.

Answer some of these questions:

• What does your personal brand stand for as a leader?
• Do you recognize that every interaction you have either builds or erodes your personal brand?
• Are you skeptical of your own ideas?
• Do you surround yourself with skeptical people to push your own thinking?
• Can you simultaneously look at the big picture and also sweat the details?
• What behaviors do you need to add to your personal brand arsenal to become an influential leader?

Push yourself with passion and focus and watch your personal brand flourish as a leader. In most of life’s endeavors, characteristics like passion, persistence and self-discipline are much more important than “just checking the box”.  Learn to loathe mediocrity by pushing yourself with a no limits mindset.