Posts Tagged ‘Attitudes’
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
 Often when succumbing to frustration, businesses and individuals find success to be a fleeting proposition. There is no question that success is a journey, but it can become a very manageable and measurable journey focused on desired outcomes and results. There is a significant difference between wishing for success and accomplishing success. And, that difference makes all the difference in the world!
Successful businesses and successful people have a long list of attributes that contribute to and foster their accomplishments. However, the objective of this article is to focus on five foundational attributes that apply to both personal as well as business success. Understanding and committing to these five core attributes will definitely propel you to a higher level of success.
Perspective: For the last three summers the Food Network has run the show “Who The Next Food Network Star.” Within the first several weeks of the season the judges inquire as to each contestant’s culinary point of view. What is his/her unique perspective on food, cooking, and the potential audience he/she may be in front of with this individual’s own show? Why would the audience at home want to watch their show and learn these recipes and techniques? Differentiation is critical as with your business and you. What is your business’s unique point of view? How does your business’ perspective differ from the competition? What are your unique set of beliefs to business and your life, and how can YOU capitalize on those?
Conviction: Having a strong belief in yourself and your business goes hand in hand with your unique perspective. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) rate your belief in yourself and your belief in your business. Are your ratings where you want them to be? If not, why not? What you accomplished yesterday is a great measurement of the success of past decisions. However, your conviction or belief in yourself and in your business is a huge predictor of your future success.
Vision: Where do you want to go? What do you want to become? Why? Just like an organization’s vision your personal vision should be a short, succinct, and an inspiring statement of what you intend to become and achieve at some point in the future. Vision refers intentions that are broad, all-inclusive and forward thinking. It is the image that a business must have of its goals before it sets out to reach them. It describes aspirations for the future, without specifying the means that will be used to achieve those desired ends. Warren Bennis, a noted writer on leadership says: “To choose a direction, an individual (an organization) must have developed a mental image of the possible and desirable future state.”
Experience: Every individual and every business represents a unique set of skills and knowledge. How can you leverage those talents?
Attitude: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.” This quote by Charles Swindoll states that attitude is more important than many things. The remarkable thing about attitude is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, and we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is control our attitude and stay focused. Your attitude is your greatest tool!
Your challenge is to review these five attributes and conduct an honest assessment of where you stand as it relates to your perspective, conviction, vision, experience, and attitude. Are these five attributes propelling you to success, or are they hindering your desired outcome? Based on your answer to the last question what additional steps do you need to take or what do you need do differently? Your outcomes are directly connected to your choices—so choose wisely.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: attitude, Attitudes, Bennis, conviction, perspective, RAC, resource associates, results, Swindoll, Vision
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Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
 “A financial analyst once asked me if I was afraid of losing control of our organization. I told him I never had control, and I never wanted it. If you create an environment where the people truly participate, you don’t need control. They know what needs to be done and they do it.” - Herb Kelleher, Co Founder of Southwest Airlines
High performance people see things not only as they are, but also as they could be. This is the first step in creating an environment and structure where people truly participate and genuinely believe they are integral to the organization’s success. When people expand their focus on the possible, they begin to seek new and better ways of doing things. They realize they have the capacity to shape their lives rather than accept things as they are. Leadership is the norm, not the exception. Everyone is encouraged to examine situations and lead in response to them. Previous habits of “doing it this way because we have always done it this way” give way to new attitudes, innovative thinking, and process improvements. The philosophy “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” gives way to “regardless of how good it is, we can make it better.”
Mentoring people to higher levels of performance requires that you establish the conditions within which performance serves both the organization’s as well as the individual’s best interests. The structure and culture of the organization must support the efforts of the individuals. Everyone needs to realize that his or her best interests and personal successes are served by the success of the entire organization. If the environment is not conducive to supporting and guiding people to new levels of achievement, new skills and behaviors will not thrive. You cannot lead people to higher levels of achievement if the structures do not support the behavior.
The way people think leads to what they do. What people do leads to results. If you want to improve results, it makes sense to improve the way people think. Significant achievement is not likely without change, and change in behavior starts with a change in thinking.
You have no doubt heard the expression, “We are creatures of habit.” There is considerable truth to that statement, for almost all that we do and most of what we think is the result of habits that have been formed during the course of a lifetime. Much of what we do in a 24-hour period demands little conscious thought because we have developed habits that help us accomplish a number of things. Just as much of our behavior is habit, so are most of our attitudes. Attitudes are habits of thought. We have thought the same way about something for so long that it is now a habit. While some habits are useful in preventing us from having to consciously figure out the mechanics each time we confront a familiar situation, many habits keep people from stretching their capabilities and trying new, inventive, and possibly better ideas or techniques. Behavior and performance are likened to attitudes. If you want to improve performance, you have to improve the habits of thought that improve performance.
How are the “we have always done it this way” attitudes and habits holding your organization back from the success you need to achieve?
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Attitudes, Behaviors, habits, Herb Kelleher, Leadership, mentoring, peak performers, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, Southwest airlines
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Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Attitudes determine the way we treat people. They affect the way we perceive change. They influence our ability to set and reach goals. Attitudes affect our ability to realize and progress through Maslow’s levels of need satisfaction (http://www.abraham-maslow.com/). The following sequence may help you see the significance of attitudes.
Results: Each of us as goal seekers want to achieve certain results from our lives.
Behavior: The results we get depend upon our behavior, how we react to situations.
Attitude: The results we get depend upon our behavior and attitudes toward the people or events involved, and toward ourselves.
If attitudes are basically negative, goals will be set low, and it will be difficult to progress. Growth and promotion will be all but impossible until a positive mindset is developed.
You can identify people with negative attitudes by their actions and by their reactions. When presented with a challenge their focus will be on problems: what can’t be done, and why things won’t work. Their discussions will often revolve around negative issues and blame. They do not respond well to compliments and will even discount them. However, they remember every one of their failures and mistakes, and this memory stifles much of their activity. They are usually part of the problem not part of the solution.
If attitudes are basically positive, individuals will focus on possibilities and ideas for improvement. This will be evident in the way they treat people. They will be very comfortable giving others credit, and their transactions will be directed at making others feel better about themselves. They accept both constructive criticism and compliments with open consideration and appreciation. They are regularly part of the solution and rarely part of the problem.
It is important to understand that attitudes are developed very early in life. Years and years of early conditioning helped to develop the attitudes that many people carry with them throughout life. Much of early conditioning was negative, what you can’t do, where not to go, etc. For the most part, negative attitudes are far more prevalent than positive attitudes. Too many people think more often of what’s wrong, how they might fail, and why it won’t work rather than what’s good, what’s right, and how it can work.
On the positive side, since attitudes are developed, they can be changed. In fact, as a leader, you will frequently find yourself in a position to help people develop positive attitudes. The first step is understanding that what took years to develop will also require some time and effort to change. Daily encouragement is important. Positive input on a daily basis will help to replace some of the negative attitudes with positive ones. Audio books, articles, brainstorming sessions, affirmations, and seminars are some techniques you can employ to create positive input.
There are many ways and opportunities to create a learning organization with a focus on positive attitudes and possibility thinkers. Recognition programs, leadership opportunities, personal mentoring, and corporate coaching (http://www.resourceassociatescorp.com/whatwedo/lifebuscoach) are but a few ways to help your team develop the appropriate attitudes focused on goal achievement. One of the vital contributions a leader can make is instilling the desire and creating the opportunity for continuous improvement.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through leadership development and executive coaching. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Attitudes, Behavior, Coaching, goal achievement, Leadership, Maslow, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, results, success
Posted in Attitudes | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Human capital is a top priority in today’s organizations.
In fact many organizations are faced with the reality that they need to get more results through smaller and perhaps more fragmented teams. As your employees have added and shifted roles, positions, and responsibilities, how do you know you have the right people in the right positions in order to maximize your organization’s efforts and outcomes?
The reality is, in some cases you do have the right team members in right places, and in some cases you probably guessed wrong, as we all have. Companies forced to reorganize made quick decisions resulting in people landing in the wrong roles. Likewise, companies that have experienced intense growth have ended up with similar results. Diagnostic assessments can help you to determine performance gaps and help your company to effectively understand and align the talents, behaviors, and motivators of every employee. Having the right employee in the right position is as critical to the individual’s success as it is to the success of the company.
The first step in bridging performance gaps is for management to be committed to a people development process for employees. It should be based on the skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to do their jobs successfully. If the size of the organization is large enough it can be HR implemented, but the objectives and strategies of developing employees and how those employees are going to help drive results needs to be driven by management.
After the commitment is in place and the objectives have been identified, diagnostic assessments can help specifically and individually determine performance gaps, as developmental issues will be employee specific. Assessments can also be the secret tool for creating skill development as well attitudinal and behavioral improvement while eliminating resistance to change.
When working with clients, we focus diagnostically on the whole person as defined by these three key areas:
- WHAT natural talents do your employees possess? How do they make decisions and interact with the world around them, as well as how do they perceive themselves?
- WHY are your employees motivated to use their natural talents, based on their personal motivators and drivers? Everyone has their own unique mix of personal drivers and motivators that help guide them toward success. Understanding what really drives a person is a crucial part of success.
- HOW do your employees prefer to use their natural talents, based on their preferred behavioral style? Since each individual has their own unique preferences and habits for how they like to behave, this understanding is crucial when working with team members, as a leader or manager, or in an environment that requires conflict resolution.
Establishing new behaviors requires the employee feel able to adopt the behavior and feel comfortable doing so. A well-designed people development process focused on objectives using diagnostic assessments drives long-term change. We consistently see 80-100% in adaptable change after the completion of a development process with sustainable results that remain a year later. To learn how to achieve these types of sustainable results for your business visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Assessments, Attitudes, Behaviors, Diagnostic, Motivators, Natural Talents, Performance Gaps, results, skills, Wrong Role
Posted in Business Management | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
Every day we are bombarded by decisions … what to do, what to eat, what to wear, what to read, what to watch or listen to, what to buy, what to say … the decisions are never ending.
The never-ending process of making decisions continues throughout your workday. Every time an employee asks you a question like, Can I leave early to go to my son’s lacrosse game, or Mary just called off sick and we need her part of the project today, what do we do? You are making decisions that impact your team or department’s results.
Fortunately, most decisions require very little conscious thought. In fact, we actually made many of the decisions a long time ago, and we’re simply executing them now out of unconscious habit. For example, we spend little or no time deliberating what driving route we take to work, what errands need to be accomplished over the weekend, or what clothes you throw on after getting home from work.
The emotional intensity of decisions depends upon the perspective of the decision maker. To a corporate executive, a decision that involves millions of dollars can seem routine, while the president of a local service club might agonize over luncheon arrangements for 15 members. A married couple might spend considerable time and energy deciding what color to paint their living room, while a marketing executive might design packaging for an entire product line in a very short time. Your attitudes and habits influence your actions and thoughts. You can improve your decision making skills by becoming aware of the existing attitudes and habits that have shaped your decisions in the past.
Take a few moments to list some of the important decisions you made in the past five years. Evaluate the quality of those decisions.
Did they produce the results you wanted? Are there any decisions you would change?
Next examine your decision making style. Did you tend to make the decisions impulsively, or did you take time to examine all of the facts? Did you involve others, or did you decide alone? Did you make the decision in a timely manner, or did you procrastinate? Did your decisions align with your goals, or were you swayed by external influences and other people’s opinions? Were there any decisions on your list that you made against your better judgment? Perhaps you had a hunch about what you should do, but you disregarded it. How did those decisions turn out? Write down your observations. Can you identify the habits and attitudes that either helped or hindered your decision making in the past?
Over the years your personal experiences and your daily application of formal knowledge have given you a sixth sense for what will and will not work in given situations. Intuition can serve you well in decision making. Research has revealed decisions based on instinct are frequently more accurate than those based strictly on factual analysis. Your best decisions will draw upon both the logical and the emotional facets of your personality. Listen to your inner voice and be sure your decisions pass the test of plain common sense.
Passing the common sense test is an important component of making a sound decision. However, for more complex decisions there is a proven decision making process which includes six key steps. We will share more specifics on the decision making process in a future post!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Attitudes, decisions, Emotion, Energy, habits, Leadership, Team, Time
Posted in Decision Making | 2 Comments »
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