Attitude Check

My guess is that you spend a lot of time every morning getting yourself physically ready for work: hair, face, teeth, clothes, everything to make you look your best.  But as much as you should want to look good as a seasoned professional, the one thing that may not be on your checklist is your attitude.

If you are an owner, leader, or manager, one of the most important elements you must check is your attitude going into work.  People look to you as the one who sets the tone in your business, so don’t just check the weather report.  Check your internal temperature and make an adjustment on the thermostat if necessary.

Yet you don’t have to be running the business to know that your attitude is vital to your success at work.  Think of the grumpy waitress at breakfast who seems disinterested at best in serving you.  Or the co-worker who never comes to the office or store happy.  Or the supervisor who needs an attitude adjustment before he engages with anyone.

Sometimes people have issues at home that are really hard to shake off before they get to work.  At other times, people just may have an “off day” and most of us can relate to that.  But just like you check your physical appearance before you get to work, you should always check your attitude.  It will make a huge difference in your success.

Here are a few Business & Life Tips to think about….

Business Tips:

• Check references. Don’t just ask if a person did a good job. Ask about attitude, teachability, and people orientation. It all counts.
• Leaders spend far too much time working on their strategy, and far too little time working on the culture of their organization.
• If someone you are close to or work with always insists on being right, ask him if he wants to right all the time or, simply, successful.

Life Tips:

• I grew up believing that leaders were born, not made. Leadership behavior is learned through the process of life and seeking to lead.
• Watch what people do wrong: make bad choices, treat people poorly, and have a sour attitude about virtually everything. Then do just the opposite.
• Continuous improvement is a lost virtue for many business owners. You can’t stay the same. You must get better.

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