The leader and his attitude

The disease later corrected itself and he was able to grow but at the peak of his amateur practice, he only weighed 49kg and was just 1.59m tall. He later had serious battle with brain tumour and had to go under the knife a number of times. But none of these was able to put him down. He was not given any chance by many but he did not reckon with that; he rose above his limitations and conquered his world. After his retirement from skating, he became a television star. His strength was his attitude. He never regarded himself as disabled, believing that there was nothing he set his mind upon that he could not accomplish. Hence, his memorable words that the only disability in life is a bad attitude.



What is an attitude?

An attitude is a viewpoint about situations, people or places. It is a belief that informs reactions to, and handling of, issues, circumstances and persons. It is a perception that shapes behaviours. It is a mindset that determines what is done and how it is done. Social scientists are of the opinion that no one was born with any particular attitude. So, attitude is a learnt behaviour.

Attitude determines accomplishments; no one can outperform his level of attitude. Attitude is superior to aptitude because the latter does not solely determine success.
If the aptitude is right but the attitude is wrong, the outcome will be far from right. A study carried out by Stanford Research Institute confirms this. According to the finding, success is comprised of 88 per cent attitude and only 12 per cent education (aptitude).

But if attitude can be learnt, it can also be unlearned. Therefore, no one needs to enslave himself to a wrong attitude. Like a worn out shirt or skirt, a bad attitude should be shed. A bad attitude is like having a flat tyre, it can’t get anyone anywhere until it is changed.

Importance of attitude in leadership

A leader is, among other things, a model. Many people shape their lives by what they hear or see the leader say or do. So, the leader’s attitude determines that of his team members. If the leader’s attitude is right, this will percolate down to all members of the organization and the whole system is energized. With that, everything comes within the realm of possibility. If the leader’s attitude is wrong, he sends a wrong signal to the team and drains everyone of energy. Ordinarily achievable tasks become daunting. So, a leader must learn to choose the right attitude to avoid spreading poison among his team members.

One other thing about attitude is that it determines the culture of an organization. Culture is not superficial; it is entrenched and once formed is difficult to change. Therefore, it is vital that a leader does not do anything that could sow the seed of a toxic culture in the organization.

Attitudes the leader needs

Success does not happen in a vacuum; it is a consequence of embracing the right attitude. So, the following are some of the attitudes a leader needs to imbibe so as to facilitate organizational success.

Positivity

Nothing works like a positive attitude. Positive attitude produces optimism and unleashes latent energy. It dulls worries and fears while playing up possibilities. Having a positive attitude is making a choice to see a situation from the bright side instead of viewing it from the horrible side. It is a determination to see the glass as half full instead of half empty. Positive attitude puts the dividing line between a leader who is able to steer his people from adversity to prosperity and one who leaves them enmeshed in their catastrophe.

Positivity is very important because as Napoleon Bonaparte observed, a leader is a dealer in hope. It is a leader’s responsibility to give his people hope. But he can only give them hope if he is not hopeless himself, and being imbued with a positive attitude hinged on a belief that things will work out well is one sure way to demonstrate hope.

A leader with a positive attitude believes the best in his team. He does not concentrate on what is wrong but rather focuses on what is right with the team. He does not overstress what is not good about the products but emphasizes the edge his products have over others. He does not amplify what is inappropriate with the system but underscores what is good about it.

Attitude of gratitude

Everyone wants to feel loved and valued because the yearning for appreciation is innate to man. The easiest way to show that an individual is valued is to express gratitude to him. When this comes from the leader, it enlivens the people and encourages them to put in more effort. But showing gratitude, especially for activities that are regarded as run of the mill, does not come naturally to many people. Most leaders wait till a team member achieves an earth-shattering or a record-breaking feat before showing them appreciation. That is not quite right because it is capable of sending a message to the team that their efforts are not valued. However, while accomplishment of tasks that are regarded as outstanding may attract incentives, those that fall into other categories should be noted and commended, even if verbally. Gratitude should be the second nature of a leader. It should flow freely from him and the leader should show how every activity that is appreciated contributes to the overall objective of the organization so that the appreciation may be fully appreciated by the recipients.

Calmness under pressure

There are times when a leader comes under serious pressure. Everything turns topsy-turvy. Projections fail. Targets are missed. Sales are poor and all hell seems let loose. What the leader does at a time like this will either put the organization on the path to recovery or drive the nail further into its coffin. At times like this, great leaders remain calm on the outside even if they are experiencing turmoil on the inside. It is their calmness that assures team members that the present challenge is not insurmountable.

Having a crisis is not a problem; the real problem is what is done about what has happened. Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles, gives a formula in that book thus; E + R = O, where E stands for event, R stands for response and O stands for outcome. According to Canfield, the event alone does not determine what happens; it is the response to what has happened that determines the outcome. So, if there is a crisis and the response to the crisis is right, a positive change will follow the crisis. However, if a crisis is followed by a negative response, it may lead to a cataclysmic change.   

Putting others first

Any leader that wants to make success of his leadership must always endeavour to put others first. In the book Leaders Eat Last, the author, Simon Sinek, says the success of every team is linked to the preparedness of the leader to sacrifice his comfort for that of his members. Sinek says instead of protecting their selfish interests, leaders who make a difference build a circle of safety that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside. According to him, by building this circle, the leaders earn the trust of the team members and this results in a situation where everyone has a feeling of belonging and all energies are devoted to facing the common enemy and seizing big opportunities.

When leaders make their team members’ concern and comfort their priority, they completely win them over. When that happens, there is no limit to what the members can do to ensure the leaders’ success.

Take the blame

Many leaders often tend to look for scapegoats when things go wrong. They blame everyone but themselves for the situation. But great leaders don’t travel that route. A great leader takes the blame for failure and shares the credit for success with his team members. When things go wrong, what they say is, “I missed it.” But when they record success, they say, “We did it.” Great leaders sparingly apportion blame and generously give credit. That is an attitude of a leader who wants to build a strong team, boost morale and record great success. When a team member who made a mistake is encouraged by the leader to be more careful next time and to learn from the experience rather than being reprimanded, he becomes a devotee of the leader and goes to any length to work for his success.

Keeping an eye on the ball

Great leaders never take their eyes off the ball; they remain committed to the original goal of the team and ensure that nothing is done to take them off course. They are conscious of the fact that their assessment will be based on what they do with the primary assignment. So, while they pay attention to other issues, they never allow themselves to be swayed off the original goal. They keep the vision in focus at all times.  

Last line

As noted by Viktor E. Frankl, the late Austrian neurologist who was also a Holocaust survivor, our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude. Therefore, every leader is duty-bound to deploy this freedom wisely by choosing success-enabling attitudes. It is that choice that would earn him a good place in posterity.