April 2009 Connection Newsletter
Having a Positive Attitude at Work
Business success depends, in part, on maintaining a positive attitude--with business associates, customers, and employees. Here are seven sure ways of demonstrating a positive attitude at work.
1. Be conscientious. Show you can be depended on to complete projects with quality in a timely
manner, without reminders.
2. Be respectful. Give people the same courtesy you would like given to you.
3. Be honest. Admit mistakes and correct them quickly.
Ask for help if you need it.
Be direct about it.
4. Be cooperative. Be a “team-player" with colleagues and clients.
Listen to others. Treat conflict as a challenge.
Offer help where it's needed.
5. Be flexible. Accept new challenges with a smile. Upgrade your skills to adapt to changing customer needs. Think creatively.
6. Offer solutions. Be optimistic--whenever you identify a problem, try offering a constructive solution with it.
7. Work hard. Show enthusiasm by setting ambitious goals. Be productive by using your work hours wisely. Take pride in a job well done.
Reference to:
Putting a Positive Attitude to Work
by James J. De Santis, PhD.
What is an Attitude?
An attitude is a point of view about a situation. An attitude has three components. An attitude is made up of:
What you think
What you do
What you feel
No matter what situation you are in, you always have certain thoughts about it. You also have an emotional response to it, and you behave a certain way in it. To begin changing your attitude you either change your thinking, the way you act, or the way you feel. Two of these choices are easier to influence than the third.
It is easier to change the way you think or behave than to change your emotions. However, it is usually our emotions that get our attention in regards to the situation. It is our emotions that we most want to change. When we feel sad, angry, anxious, or frustrated, we don’t like it. We want the feeling to quickly go away. So, we start trying to change the emotion. We often begin by trying to change others so we can feel better. It doesn't work. We engage in behaviors like alcohol and drug abuse to numb the feelings. It doesn't work. Working all the time or excessive shopping are attempts at avoiding emotional distress. They don’t work.
Our initial tendency is to focus on the feeling level and to change it first. The feeling or emotional level, however, is the most difficult to work on. You can’t “grasp” a feeling and force it to change. Feelings are powerful but vague. You cannot get a grip on a feeling. If you want to change your feelings, you must start elsewhere. You must begin with either your thinking or your behavior over which you have more control.
The secret in effectively changing your emotions is to know that your feelings, thoughts and behaviors are all related. When you change one of them (for example, thinking) the other two (feelings and behavior) will change as well.
Since it is easier to get a “grasp” on thoughts and behavior, this is the place to begin your work of staying resilient. Change what you think! Change what you do! The emotions will change and you will be creating resiliency.
You are not responsible for everything that happens to you, but you are responsible for how you react to what does happen to you. Your reaction is under your control. In any life situation you are always responsible for the attitude towards the situation in which you find yourself. Your attitude is your reaction to what life hands you. You can have either a more positive or a more negative attitude. Your attitude is under your control and can be changed. With the right attitude you can be a resilient person.
http://www.mccg.org/challenge/what_is_an_attitude
