10 Steps for Maintaining a Positive Attitude in
the Workplace
Every workplace is
different, and accordingly, each has unique challenges. Simple solutions do not
apply to every business, especially if managers and employees are constrained by
rigid labor agreements or ill-conceived business models. Nevertheless, the
following time-tested principles should serve as a checklist designed to assist
leader/managers in the never-ending challenge of maintaining a positive overall
attitude in the workplace.
1. The leader/manager should,
first and foremost, demonstrate a commitment to the organization through hard
work and responsible behavior.
"Nothing is so infectious as example."
La Rochefoucauld
"Example is the school of humankind, and they will learn at no other."
Edmund Burke
"Any team can be a miracle team, but you have to go out and work for your
miracles."
Pat Riley
2. The leader must be competent and worthy of leadership.
"Leadership comes from competence.
Leadership is by example, not talk."
Bill Walsh
"Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, better to
bruise than to polish."
Anne Bradstreet
"He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command."
Machiavelli
3. The leader should have a
clear vision of the goals of the organization; the leader should clearly
communicate those goals to the appropriate parties.
"Nobody wants to follow somebody who doesn’t know where he’s
going."
Joe Namath
"If you don’t know where you’re going, be careful. You might get
there."
Yogi Berra
"The true leader inspires in others self-trust, guiding their eyes to the
spirit of the goal."
Bronson Alcott
4. The leader should translate the organization’s goals into clearly definable
work.
"One of the most important factors, not
only in military matters but in life as a whole, is the ability to direct one’s
whole energies towards the fulfillment of a particular task."
Erwin Rommel
"The best plan is only a plan, that is, good intentions, unless it
degenerates into work."
Peter F. Drucker
"Inspiration comes from working every day."
Charles Baudelaire
5. The leader should establish clear expectations and provide frequent feedback
so that employees will know when they have been successful in their work and
when they have failed.
"Drive thy business or thy business
will drive thee."
Ben Franklin
"Issuing order is worth about 10 percent. The remaining 90 percent consists
in assuring proper and vigorous execution of the order."
General George S. Patton
"As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what
they do."
Andrew Carnegie
6. The leader should create an atmosphere of success, one
in which employees confidently believe that they can be successful if they apply
themselves.
"The greatest good you can do for
another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own."
Benjamin Disraeli
"Confidence imparts a wonderful inspiration to its possessor."
John Milton
"Act as if it were impossible to fail."
Dorthea Brand
7. The leader should reward
success and praise behavior that meets or exceeds expectations while dealing
forthrightly with behavior that fails to meet expectations.
"The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be
appreciated."
William James
"Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their
personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can
accomplish."
Sam Walton
"Praise
loudly. Criticize softly."
Lou Holtz
8. The leader should
demonstrate appropriate respect for his or her employees.
"We awaken in others the same attitude
of mind we hold toward them."
Elbert Hubbard
"We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to
life."
Edwin Markham
"When you respect the other person, you respect yourself."
Clint Eastwood
9. The manager should understand that attitudes are
contagious and that a manager’s outlook, either positive or negative, will
play a major role in the overall attitude of the workplace.
"The real secret of success is
enthusiasm. Yes, more than enthusiasm, I would say excitement. When people get
excited, they make a success of their lives."
Walter Chrysler
"People, even more than things, have to
be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed and redeemed and
redeemed."
Audrey Hepburn
"Passion persuades."
Anita Roddick
10. The leader must
understand that chronically negative individuals will, inevitably, have a
profound negative impact on the morale of the workplace.
"Don't bring negatives to my
door."
Maya Angelou
"The best place for mediocre employees is with the competition."
Jay Goltz
"Motivation is simple: You eliminate those who aren’t motivated."
Lou Holtz
This page was written and
compiled by Criswell Freeman, Psy.D.
