Thoughts on Leadership: Attitude

Attitude:

The next area managers can focus on that can greatly affect employees is attitude. One’s attitude is communicated through words and actions and represents his or her’s present and future world view. A manager’s attitude is always with them and is not easily changed because you cannot ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ when it comes to your attitude; your true self will always come out.

Optimist: A good manager needs to be an optimist. He or she needs to always believe the job can get done and the project can be completed on-time. If everyone else is wallowing in negativity a good manager will rally his or her’s employees and see the positive side of whatever is going on. Also, a lot can be learned from sports where a good coach always drives his or her’s players to win even when it seems hopeless (a tie is also a good result in soccer).

Honesty: It is important that a manager is honest and not deceitful. In the same way that it is important to give honest feedback when communicating with employees, it is necessary to be an honest person when interacting with others and not lie or bend truths to get your way. As a manager, if you are not honest about your attitude and outlook then your employees will react in kind.

Integrity: Having integrity will go a long way with employees. If you have integrity your employees will trust you. If you have integrity, you will follow through on promises. If you have integrity, they know you will try your best to create a positive outcome for the team or department. If you have integrity, you have integrity.

Have unwavering faith in your people: Why is it important to have faith in your people? Having unwavering faith in your people combines every aspect of one’s attitude; the ability to be an optimist, being honest, having integrity, and believing in your employees. If you believe in your employees then you can collaborate with them and complete any job no matter what but if you do not have faith in them, and that doubt has been directly or indirectly communicated, then they will not be productive and possibly be actively disengaged. It is extremely difficult to solve problems or get a job done with employees that are disengaged (near impossible).

Having a good attitude goes beyond being nice, it is about who you are day in and day out. Your attitude is how you view and approach to your life, your job, your employees, and how you tackle hardships. If you have a piss poor attitude then your employees with respond in kind. If you have positive attitude that is about getting the job done and solving problems then you will get the best possible work and productivity out of your employees because you are not getting in the way of them doing their jobs because of your poor attitude and behaviors.