By Nan McAdam
The other day, I was browsing through a catalog and I ran across a sign that said, "the beatings will continue until morale improves". A little bit of tongue in cheek humor. Or is it? It got me thinking about the two different management styles; positive versus negative.
Many managers make the mistake of passing on their frustrations, problems and disappointments to those who work for them. They may be naive, or terribly misinformed, if they believe that people will work harder when they have had a good behind chewing. They may also believe that if they, the manager, gets chewed out by their superiors, they should be able to pass that frustration down to the people on their team. It's only fair, right? This ideology is far from the truth.
There is nothing more demoralizing to a team than to catch their leader's bad attitude. Face it. When a leader shows hurt, frustration, and disappointment, that attitude will pass down to their team like a cancer, rotting away all goals and possible productivity.
People will not follow, for any length of time, a negatively charged individual. A negative leader will always drain the team's battery. The leader will be plagued by people problems. Before long, the moral will be in the dumpster, and the team will avoid the leader. The team will know they don't feel good when they are around the leader. It is never possible for a negative leader to have a positive team.
A positive leadership trait is to, always, pass nothing but positive things down to their team. A leader can never, ever, show hurt. They must always strive to stay positive. I have heard the excuse, "but, I don't feel positive all the time". Here's a newsflash...no one does. We all have our down days. When suffering from a down day, it is best to either change how you are feeling, or get away from the team. The team wants, and needs, to hear how excited their leader is about the business, and how great they feel about the future. People need to feel excited and motivated and the leader sets the pace.
If a person finds themselves leading from the negative side, consciously becoming aware of what's being said around the team is the first step. After realizing what's said, the next step is to change the attitude. To change our attitude we must first change our state. We can change our state by sitting up straighter, walking taller, and walking faster. Go find a mirror and smile at your reflection. Get away from the team and take a walk, or close your eyes for a few moments and think of something that makes you happy. Take some deep breathes and get ready to be the positive, pumped up person your team needs you to be!
Many managers make the mistake of passing on their frustrations, problems and disappointments to those who work for them. They may be naive, or terribly misinformed, if they believe that people will work harder when they have had a good behind chewing. They may also believe that if they, the manager, gets chewed out by their superiors, they should be able to pass that frustration down to the people on their team. It's only fair, right? This ideology is far from the truth.
There is nothing more demoralizing to a team than to catch their leader's bad attitude. Face it. When a leader shows hurt, frustration, and disappointment, that attitude will pass down to their team like a cancer, rotting away all goals and possible productivity.
People will not follow, for any length of time, a negatively charged individual. A negative leader will always drain the team's battery. The leader will be plagued by people problems. Before long, the moral will be in the dumpster, and the team will avoid the leader. The team will know they don't feel good when they are around the leader. It is never possible for a negative leader to have a positive team.
A positive leadership trait is to, always, pass nothing but positive things down to their team. A leader can never, ever, show hurt. They must always strive to stay positive. I have heard the excuse, "but, I don't feel positive all the time". Here's a newsflash...no one does. We all have our down days. When suffering from a down day, it is best to either change how you are feeling, or get away from the team. The team wants, and needs, to hear how excited their leader is about the business, and how great they feel about the future. People need to feel excited and motivated and the leader sets the pace.
If a person finds themselves leading from the negative side, consciously becoming aware of what's being said around the team is the first step. After realizing what's said, the next step is to change the attitude. To change our attitude we must first change our state. We can change our state by sitting up straighter, walking taller, and walking faster. Go find a mirror and smile at your reflection. Get away from the team and take a walk, or close your eyes for a few moments and think of something that makes you happy. Take some deep breathes and get ready to be the positive, pumped up person your team needs you to be!
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