Human Resource Management Article - There Aren't Any Negatives

Attitude really is everything. I'm talking about yours, not the people you work with. Stephen Covey, in his latest book The 8th Habit, points out that "between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lie our freedom and the power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and our happiness". If you think about it, your attitude is the only thing you can control 100% of the time. That's why I choose to see the positive in everything that happens to me and around me-because I believe that everything is a positive learning experience.

Even the negative things that happen are really positives if you look at them from a different point of view. It helps if you also believe in fate. I believe everything that happens to you happens for a reason. Whatever happens today is preparing you for what will happen tomorrow.

I'm a realist. I know that I can't control everything that goes on around me. Most outcomes are out of my hands. But I do know that I can control how I choose to react in any given situation. I know that in the space between stimulus and response I must react in a way that will get me what I want. So I've made it a habit to ask myself some very important questions: WIIFM? (What's in it for me?) What am I hoping to achieve? What do I want the other person's response to be? What lessons are there here for me to learn regarding the mistakes I've made so that they won't happen again?

Always ask yourself: If you react the way you really want to react, will it be counter-productive to what you want to achieve? (Granted; reacting how you really want to react may make you feel a whole lot better but trust me, those good feelings won't get you what you want in the long run.) One of the greatest compliments that I have ever received from an employee was one from a staff member whom I had chastised for poor performance. As a result it took her 20 minutes to figure out that I had just given her heck. I knew that if I had ranted and raged and attacked her verbally, although I would have felt better having gotten it off my chest, she would have dug in her heels and not learned from her mistake.

The people you work with will make mistakes. No one, and I mean NO ONE, is perfect. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, makes mistakes. The successful managers of the future will be those managers who can develop empathy and see things from their employee's point of view. The successful managers of the future will be those managers who can look at the mistakes that their people make as opportunities for coaching them so that those mistakes won't happen again. Successful managers of the future will be those managers who create teachable moments.

Most times, success comes from parking your ego at the door and doing whatever you need to do to get the desired result. Managers have to take the time between stimulus and response and decide how to effectively address the situation. Managers need to create an environment that is conducive to learning. Ranting and raging and chastising your staff are counter-productive to what you want to achieve because it won't get you the desired result. Coaching, nurturing and words of encouragement are what's needed. Your attitude and how you respond is everything. Remember: there aren't any negatives... everything is positive.


		Mr. Brian Smith - Author, Professional Speaker, College Professor and Training and Performance Consultant - has been in the "people" business for over 37 years, 27 of those years as a general manager for a major Canadian retailer and as an award-winning owner/operator of his own small business. A leading authority on performance improvement and leadership development, Brian has worked with clients both in the public and private sectors, including: Med-Eng Systems, Aecon, I-Stat Canada, and Siemens. Brian is a member of the faculty of Algonquin College's School of Business where he teaches entrepreneurship and business management.

There Aren't Any Negatives - Everything is Positive