Attitudes are Contagious

This is the second of a five-part series about attracting and retaining employees. The areas of focus are:
1. Communication – click to read (hyperlink to article)
2. Attitude
3. Flexibility
4. Opportunity to Learn
5. Fun

This article is on attitude. In a dialogue session at the Delta Chamber of Commerce, someone made the point that management attitude needed to change and that managers needed to walk the talk.

What is attitude? The dictionary defines it as “a mental position.” So, the statement that managers need to change their attitude is also an attitude. Therefore, it is apparent that the attitude on both sides needs to shift --- management and employees.

Who goes first? In their book The Leadership Challenge, authors Kouzes and Posner are of the opinion that it is the leader. That is why you are the leader -- you get to go first. Therefore, the first attitude change is expected to come from the leaders. If not, there is a stalemate.

What are some mental positions managers need to change? Here are three examples I have encountered with managers.
1) I know how I am and that is the way it is.
2) Staff should just get out there and do it.
3) People should leave their personal stuff at home.

In the first instance, the manager knows what his or her particular challenge is – I will use the example of being in control. Why does a person need to have control? It may be due to a lack of confidence, fear of failure, loss of prestige or other reasons that are unique to that person.

What is the cost of a leader not changing this behaviour? Typically, your staff will do what they are told but not much else for fear of making a mistake. They will avoid ruffling your feathers and speaking truthfully to you. They perceive that you are not open to hearing them anyway. If you were open to hearing them, you would demonstrate this by changing your need for control. This is the ‘walk the talk’ part.

The second example is “staff should just do it.” Most likely, if your staff knew exactly what the objective was, how to do it and why they should do it, they would do it. That is, of course, if their own fears or lack of confidence does not get in the way. There are lots of reasons an individual “just does not do it.” As a manager, you will only learn through communication what hinders this person. (See the first article on communication.)

I have coached senior executives who believe that because the managers who report to are senior people, they don’t need to meet with them; they should know what to do and just do it. I heard one person say “I don’t want to babysit my people.” Now this is an attitude!

Management needs to spend dedicated time with each employee to find out what is important to them and to support their development. I recommend managers have a developmental conversation with each employee once a month. Developing some common understanding, celebrating successes and understanding each other’s challenges is key to strong working relationships.

One manager I recently coached began booking monthly conversations with his people. He has grown his staff from 5 to 17 people. His conclusion? “Managing people is not easy, but it is sure a lot easier when we have good communication and people feel like they can come and talk to me about anything.”

Third, your people are just like you and me. They have stuff in their life that leads them to have fear, anxiety, lack of confidence, turmoil, etc. When your people come to work, they can not “park this stuff at the door.” It comes in whether you like it or not. The question is what kind of behaviour it causes and how much do these behaviours impact their work.

Your challenge as a leader is to have empathy and curiosity about what might be going on with this person. Developing good communication skills will enable you to support this person in their job despite what is happening for them personally. Your support will only be accepted if people feel that you truly care about them.

Yes, your people may need to change their attitudes but they are looking for you to take action and lead the way by changing yours.

Wishing you a positively contagious attitude;

Jacque Small




Attitudes are Contagious - To learn more about this author, visit Jacque Small's Website.

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