'There is little difference in people but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it’s positive or negative.’ W Clement Stone - businessman, author, and philanthropist.
Few of us cannot help but be impressed by those successful high achievers found in the fields of sport, business, the arts, public life, and across all walks of life. These people might be regarded as ‘heroes’ but if you take a moment to look around you, you may find a few similar people in your place of work, among your friends, or in your life, for the common feature shared by these people is that they ‘make things happen’.
If you think they are different, you are right: they think differently. They possess positive attitude. What is Attitude?
Attitudes are evaluative tendencies - that can be either favourable or unfavourable – towards a person, a thing, event, or process (what psychologists refer to as ‘object’). Attitudes are formed from our beliefs. An attitude towards an object is thus a bias that moves a person towards a positive or negative attitude that is externalised through their behaviour.
People with positive beliefs and attitude know what they want; are committed; confident; motivating to be around; and create an atmosphere where engagement, learning, and high performance can thrive.
On the other hand people who have skewed or negative beliefs about them self, their place of work, or people they work with will have a poor or negative attitude that will lead to their under-performing, being less engaged, responsible, and accountable. Of more concern is that these people can spread their negative attitude.
Attitude and Performance
Sports psychologists and elite coaches have for some years understood that talent alone is insufficient a contributor to performance, with the beliefs and attitude of the person or persons being more important, recognising that:
Good Talent + Poor Attitude = Poor Talent
David Brailsford, former Performance Director of British Cycling, confirmed this when interviewed after the outstanding success of the Team GB Track Cycling team at the London Olympics in 2012: ‘We [the British Cycling Team] are very big on attitude and behaviour. I prefer to hire somebody with the right attitude and behaviour who might be limited in their knowledge and skills as long as they’ve got the head room to improve in these areas’.
Steve Hansen, coach of the New Zealand All Blacks and World Champions, interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live’s ‘Sportsweek’ following England’s Rugby win over Scotland on Saturday 11th March, 2017 that equaled the All Blacks unbeaten win record said that: ‘[He] believes England’s improvement is because of an improved attitude. Sometimes you get players, we have a lot of them over here, who are very talented, but do not have the work ethic.'
Many executives and their organisations do not recognise or understand the vital role attitude plays in performance, for they are steadfastly stuck in the belief that ‘talent’ is the answer. They are totally at odds to the learning from sport.
To compound the issue, many businesses and organisations have over the years unconsciously created structures, processes, systems, and ways of working that foster negative beliefs and attitudes in their people that in turn stifle effective performance. They fail to understand that:
Leaders & Employees + Poor Attitude = Poor Leaders & Poor Employees.
Attitudes in the workplace are all embracing, for they impact critical aspects of the daily performance of everyone in the organisation and efficacy of:
Leadership
Decision-making
Communication
Sales and Negotiation
Engagement
Productivity
Customer service
Quality
Innovation
Change and Transformation
Can You Afford to Ignore Attitude?
Executives and their organisations need to wake up fast and recognise that:
Most business and organisations can find people with skills without too much difficultly but not the people with the right attitude – those that come ‘pre-packed’ with attitude are in limited supply.
The right attitude works at every level in an organisation or business from the very top down to the bottom.
A positive attitude is not necessarily the domain of a few but something that anyone can learn and develop if they want it.
People with a positive attitude make the most of their talent.
Those people with a positive attitude are intrinsically motivated and most likely engaged in their work but if not, they are the most likely people to ‘move on’.
The major reason why many people get ‘fired’ is not because they possess the wrong skills but because they have a poor attitude (that is expressed in their behaviour).
The great explorer and adventurer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who completed 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days at the age of 59 and who climbed to the peak of Everest at 65 years of age succinctly sums up his feats and previous achievements down to: ‘90% mental attitude and 10% physical ability’.
What Next?
Through our research, development, and our work with leaders in both business and sport we have developed the online ‘Beliefs and Attitudes Mindset Questionnaire’ now available for purchase and use.