There was a man who made a living selling balloon at a fair. He had all colours of balloons, including red, yellow, blue, and green. Whenever business was slow, he would release a helium-filled balloon into the air and when the children saw it go up, they all wanted to buy one. They would come up to him, buy a balloon, and his sales would go up again. He continued this process all day. One day, he felt someone tugging at his jacket. He turned around and saw a little boy who asked, "If you release a black balloon, would that also fly?" Moved by the boy's concern, the man replied with empathy, "Son, it is not the colour of the balloon, it is what is inside that makes it go up."
The same thing applies to our lives. It is what is inside that counts. The thing inside of us that makes us go up is our attitude. Have you ever wondered why some individuals, organizations, or countries are more successful than others?
It is not a secret. These people simply think and act more effectively. They have learned how to do so by investing in the most valuable asset--people. I believe that the success of an individual, organization or country, depends on the quality of their people.
I have spoken to executives in major corporations all over the world and asked one question: "If you had a magic wand and there was one thing you would want to be changed, that would give you a cutting edge in the marketplace resulting in increased productivity and profits, what would that be?" The answer was unanimous. They all said that if people had better attitudes, they'd be better team players, and it'd cut down waste, improve loyalty and, in general, make their company a great place to work.
William James of Harvard University said, "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." Experience has shown that human resources are the most valuable asset of any business. It is more valuable than capital or equipment. Unfortunately, it is also the most wasted. People can be your biggest asset or your biggest liability.
Having been exposed to a number of training programs, such as customer service, selling skills, and strategic planning, I have come to the conclusion that all these are great programs with one major challenge: None of them works unless they have the right foundation, and the right foundation is TQP. What is TQP? TQP is Total Quality People-- people with character, integrity, good values, and a positive attitude.
Don't get me wrong. You do need all the other programs, but they will only work when you have the right foundation, and the foundation is TQP. For example, some customer service programs teach participants to say "please," and "thank-you," give smiles and handshakes. But how long can a person keep on a fake smile if he does not have the desire to serve? Besides, people can see through him. And if the smile is not sincere, it is irritating. My point is, there has to be substance over form, not form over substance. Without a doubt, one does need to remember "please" and "thank-you," the smiles, etc.--they are very important. But keep in mind that they come to a lot easier when accompanied by a desire to serve.
Someone once approached Blaise Pascal, the famous French philosopher and said, "If I had your brains, I would be a better person." Pascal replied, "Be a better person and you will have my brains."
The Calgary Tower stands at 190.8 meters. The total weight of the tower is 10,884 tons, of which 6,349 tons is below ground (approximately 60%). This shows that some of the greatest buildings have the strongest foundations. Just like a great building stands on a strong foundation, so does success. And the foundation of success is attitude.
YOUR ATTITUDE CONTRIBUTES TO SUCCESS
A study attributed to Harvard University found that when a person gets a job, 85% of the time it is because of their attitude, and only 15% of the time because of how smart they are and how many facts and figures they know. Surprisingly, almost 100% of education dollars go to teach facts and figures which account for only 15% of success in work!
It's all about that 85% of success. Attitude is the most important word in the English language. It applies to every sphere of life, including one's personal and professional life. Can an executive be a good executive without a good attitude? Can a student be a good student without a good attitude? Can a parent, teacher, salesman, employer, employee be good in their roles without a good attitude?
The foundation of success regardless of your chosen field is attitude. If the attitude is such a critical factor in success, shouldn't you examine your attitude toward life and ask how your
attitude will affect your goals?
DAVID AND GOLIATH
We all know the story of David and Goliath. There was a giant who was bullying and harassing the children in the village. One day, a 17-year-old shepherd boy came to visit his brothers and asked, "Why don't you stand up and fight the giant?" The brothers were terrified and they replied, "Don't you see he is too big to hit?" But David said, "No, he is not too big to hit, he is too big to miss." The rest is history. We all know what happened. David killed the giant with a sling. Same giant, different perception.
Our attitude determines how we look at a setback. To a positive thinker, it can be a stepping stone to success. To a negative thinker, it can be a stumbling block. Great organizations are not measured by wages and working conditions, they are measured by feelings, attitudes and relationships.
When employees say, "I can't do it," there are two possible meanings. Are they saying they don't know how to or they don't want to? If they don't know how to, that is a training issue. If they are saying they don't want to, it may be an attitude issue (they don't care) or a values issue (they believe they should not do it).
A HOLISTIC APPROACH
I believe in the holistic approach. We are not an arm and a leg, but a complete human being. The whole person goes to work and the whole person comes home. We take family problems to work and work problems to the family. What happens when we take family problems to work? Our stress level goes up and productivity comes down. Similarly, work and social problems have an impact on every aspect of our lives.
Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.
FACTORS THAT DETERMINE OUR ATTITUDE
Are we born with attitudes or do we develop them as we mature? What are the factors that form our attitudes?
If you have a negative outlook on life because of your environment, can you change your attitude? Most of our attitude is shaped during our formative years.
There are primarily three factors that determine our attitude. They are:
1. environment
2. experience
3. education
These are called the triple Es of attitude. Let's evaluate each of the factors individually.
The environment consists of the following:
- Home: positive or negative influences
- School: peer pressure
- Work: supportive or over a critical supervisor
- Media: television, newspapers, magazines, radio, movies
- Cultural background
- Religious background
- Traditions and beliefs
- Social environment
- Political environment
All of these environments create a culture. Every place be it a home, organization or a country has a culture. Have you noticed that sometimes you go to a store and you find the salesperson polite, the supervisor, manager and owner polite as well? Yet you go to another shop and you find everyone rude and discourteous. You go to a home and you find the kids and parents well-behaved, courteous and considerate. You go to another home where everyone is fighting like cats and dogs. In countries where the government and political environment is honest, generally, you will find that the people are honest, law-abiding and helpful. And the reverse is true too. In a corrupt environment, an honest person has a tough time. Whereas in an honest environment, the corrupt one has a tough time. In a positive environment, a marginal performer's output goes up. In a negative environment, a good performer's output goes down. Culture in any place always goes top-down, never bottom up. We need to step back and look at what kind of environment we have created for ourselves and those around us. It is tough to expect positive behaviour in a negative environment. Where lawlessness becomes the law, honest citizens become cheats, crooks and thieves. Isn't it time to evaluate the environment that we are in or we have created for others?
Experiences our behaviour changes according to our experiences with people and events in our life. If we have a positive experience with a person, our attitude toward him becomes positive and vice versa.
Education, I refer to both formal and informal education, not just academic qualifications. Knowledge strategically applied translates into wisdom, ensuring success. I talk of education in the broader sense. It makes the role of the educator vital. A teacher affects eternity. The ripple effect is immeasurable. We are drowning in information but starving for knowledge and wisdom. Education ought to teach us not only how to make a living but also how to live.
HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE PEOPLE WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE?
Just like an absence of ill health does not equal good health, an absence of negativity alone does not make a person positive.
People with positive attitudes have certain personality traits that are easy to recognize. They are caring, confident, patient, and humble. They have high expectations of themselves and others. They anticipate positive outcomes. A person with a positive attitude is like a fruit of all seasons. He is always welcome.
THE BENEFITS OF A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
These are many and easy to see. But what is easy to see is also easy to miss. To mention a few, a positive
attitude
- Increases productivity
- Fosters teamwork
- Solves problems
- Improves quality
- Makes for a congenial atmosphere
- Breeds loyalty
- Increases profits
- Fosters better relationships with employers, employees, and customers
- Reduces stress
- Helps a person become a contributing member of society and an asset to their country
- Makes for a pleasing personality
WHEN WE BECOME AWARE OF OUR NEGATIVE ATTITUDE, WHY DON'T WE CHANGE?
Human nature generally resists change. Change is uncomfortable. Regardless of its positive or negative effect, change can be stressful. Sometimes we get so comfortable with our negativity that even when the change is for the positive, we don't want to accept it. We stay with the negative.
Charles Dickens wrote about a prisoner who stayed for many years in a dungeon. After serving his sentence, he got his freedom. He was brought out from his cell into the bright daylight of the open world. This man looked all around and after a few moments was so uncomfortable with his newly acquired freedom that he asked to be brought back to his cell into confinement. To him, the dungeon, the chains and the darkness were more secure and comfortable than accepting the change of freedom and the open world.
Change Focus, Look for the Positive.
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