June 10, 2002 One Major Factor of Success

Have you ever kept bumping into something until you finally took notice?

It seems like every time I turn around lately, I have been bumping into the same one-word explanation that people, experiencing success, are using to describe why things have been going well for them and their teams, especially during tough times. Play along for a moment. What do you think it is? While you ponder, let me give you one example of a typical encounter.

A senior team with whom I recently worked was made up of people who had recently led their organization through the emotional roller coaster of being acquired. (In large acquisitions like this, there are always a number of expectations fulfilled and a number of others that seem to be left hanging.) This team and the entire geography-based organization, for which they were responsible, got through their acquisition ordeal relatively painlessly, more so than their colleagues in other parts of the country. Like the other teams, they had comparably tough customer issues to deal with, the same new systems and processes to learn (and get working right), and an identical level of incredibly ambitious income targets to achieve going forward.

They had been successful thus far in making their numbers and were now approaching the future with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm. Since some of their counterparts did not seem to be in such a good place, I asked them what they believed was the most important difference between themselves and the others. Their response: attitude.

Is that the answer you came up with?

Now attitude is one of those words mentioned so frequently when describing excellent performance that many of us have become numb to it. Of course, we all know that a good attitude is important. It is so obvious that we don't even have to think about it. Which is exactly why I want you to think about it, particularly, from a leadership perspective.

Although it may be a philosophical question as to whether you can really change a person's attitude, effective leaders clearly understand they can certainly create an environment where other people can choose to change the way they look at and feel about things. And that can make a tremendous difference.

So then, what is it that leaders do that produces the right attitude, conducive for success? Thinking back to the example above, how were the leaders of this team able to have generated such a positive attitude up and down the entire organization?

One answer might be that smart leaders only hire people who are seemingly pre-wired with a great attitude about things. How refreshing they are compared to the people who are so frequently cynically or negative. Yet even if their team does consist of an unusually high percentage of "naturally" positive people, leaders realize it still takes a lot of work to create and sustain an environment where the upbeat attitude continues to thrive in spite of difficult or unfair circumstances.

So here are some of the other things they do to accomplish this feat. Leaders:

• Tell people they are going to win. Leaders focus on all the capabilities their people have that will produce victory, such as the level of talent, competitive strengths, passion, ingenuity and so forth. They do not deny the difficulties they face, but build excitement about conquering them.

• Build people's self-confidence. Confidence is a big part of competence and the desire to keep growing. Assuring people of your trust and belief in them, and encouraging them to stretch is much more helpful than having them constantly question their ability or worry about the consequences of trying something new.

• Provide an uplifting vision of the future. Leaders give people a real hope for a better tomorrow and get them excited and passionate about reaching it.

• Acknowledge and steer people through the inevitable losses that are part of change. Leaders neither ignore nor forget the emotional attachment that people have to their pasts. Rather, they challenge their people to make the next chapter of their work even better than the last.

• Let their people know they care. So much can happen in such a short time, that everyone at some time experiences feelings ranging from inadequacy to panic. Leaders recognize the humanness of their people and are there to help and support them, especially when they are most vulnerable.

A final thought about attitude. If you are aspiring to have a team characterized by positive attitude, please consider this. Stop relying solely on the periodic organization wide, employee attitude surveys to tell you where people are at, and start concentrating on building relationships everyday, where your people feel trusted, valued and equipped to accomplish great things. You might be surprised at the attitude your people will display.

Reflection Questions:

1) How would you rate the overall "attitude" of your team? Is there a contagious spirit of optimism and excitement?

2) How frequently are you truly focusing your energies on some of the leader behaviors identified above? In what ways might you need to step it up a notch?