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Intentional Leadership — D2, W2, M9 — Attitude

Let’s spend some time on a personal inventory today. Get out your journal and list three people in your personal and professional lives that have impacted you; include both positive and negative influences.

Make two columns on a page, one headed Personal Life, one headed Professional Life.

List three people in each column and place a – (minus) or a + (plus) next to each name, based on their influence on your life. Then answer the following questions:

What common threads do you see among those who were positive influences?

What common threads do you see among those who were negative influences?

When you evaluate your current circumstances, in both your personal and professional lives, is your attitude the same, or different, in each aspect? Describe your current attitude in both areas of your life.

As we’ve discussed, there are times when the only thing we can control is our attitude. When you look at the areas above that you marked as negative, wht choices can you make to be more positive in those circumstances?

One of the more positive influences in my life was Mac Bledsoe (if you’re a football fan, you might know him as Drew Bledsoe’s dad). Mac was a teacher when I was in high school, as well as the football coach. He taught a few classes, but the one that made the most impact on me was a class he called “I Can” and it was based on the philosophies and teachings of Zig Ziglar. It’s been 30 years since I was in school, but I can still remember Mac and the many lessons he taught me, as if they were just last year. Thank you, Mac!

I look forward to hearing what you’ve come up with through this exercise.

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W1, M9 — Attitude

Spend some time with your journal today, writing about someone you consider to be a role model in having a positive attitude. What do they do that demonstrates this?

What impact do they have on you and others?

How might you benefit by making an adjustment in your attitude?

Also, take some time to write about the insights you’ve had this week, our first week of focus on Attitude. How can you apply what you’ve learned about the importance of attitude on the outcomes in our lives?

How can what you’ve learned help you to become a more effective leader?

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Intentional Leadership — Month 9 — Attitude

Eleven years ago, I went through a life-changing leadership training process. During the course of that journey, we studied the Fish! Philosophy, based on how the fishmongers at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, WA, approach their work. Essentially, there are four things these men are focused on as they approach their work, and really their daily lives, and one of them is this: Choose Your Attitude!

It really made an impression on me, because truly it is a choice. We have no control over what life will throw at us, what others will do or say to us. All we have control over is how we choose to react or respond. We can choose what our attitude will be about what happens to us. And frankly, if we don’t choose, we put ourselves in the victim mode. I don’t know about you, but I’m not cut out for that. Yes, I do have my less-than-stellar moments of frustration, impatience, etc…but I typically recover pretty quickly and move on to problem-solving so I can move forward.

Olympic Gold Medalist, Scott Hamilton, said, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Well put, I say!

No matter what happens to each of us in our lives, the best way to create the kind of life and success we desire is to commit to having a positive attitude. When you do this, you don’t waste your time and energy complaining or wishing things were different. You recognize you are the captain of your ship, and have the power to navigate your course. This allows you to focus your energy on creating more of what you do want, and moving farther away from what you don’t want.

As you do this, you become the kind of leader that attracts others. Think about it: Whom do you want to spend a lot of time with — someone with a positive, up-beat attitude, or with someone who has an negative attitude?

Think about your attitude,  and ask yourself this: Is my attitude an asset or a liability? Will it allow me to propel myself forward into living the life I desire, or will it hold me back? Will it attract other like-minded, talented, creative people to me, or will it attract those who are focused on doom and gloom?

How important has your attitude been to your success in life so far?

What do you allow to influence your attitude — both in positive and negative ways?

What kinds of choices can you make each day to maintain a positive attitude?

How has your attitude made a difference in your role as a leader?

Tomorrow, we will begin our four-week journey focused on Attitude. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the subject.

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