Attitude Vs. Behavior

Is it possible to display a positive attitude even if you’re feeling sad, depressed, or angry? Of course. Employees constantly find themselves in situations where they simply cannot let their internal feelings influence their actions. Put yourself in these situations. Would you like your surgeon to be all thumbs because he was upset with his wife? Or a fireman to drive slowly when you called in an alarm because he was tired? Or your lawyer to argue your case poorly because she didn’t feel like talking today? Or the lifeguard to daydream about getting a new job instead of paying attention while your child was swimming? These people are required to behave in a certain, prescribed way regardless of their attitude. And we certainly expect them to do that-no matter what.

But how do you stay enthusiastic and excited about your job if you’ve been at it for a while and things at work or at home are not going perfectly? Remember, when actors are on stage, they know they must be so good at what they do that their performance will set them apart from the rest of the cast and make them memorable. No matter how famous and successful an actor may be, he or she is always aware of an understudy waiting in the wings, eager to take over the role the moment that actor begins to deliver a performance that is less than top quality.

In today’s world of downsizing and layoffs, we all have understudies-people who would love to take our place and play the part the job requires. To remain employable, you must make sure you are one of your organization’s “star performers.” Your customers also have the right to a star performance because they are your audience. After all, that’s really what your paycheck is: a reward for playing your part well. Can your organization count on you, as a professional, to be a star performer?

Now, this doesn’t mean you should be phony or just go through the mechanical motions of acting out your part. No employer wants an office full of robots, but they also don’t want people who bring their negative feelings to work every day. Think of what a different workplace we could create if everyone came to work and focused on the job at hand instead of allowing our internal attitudes to affect our performance.

Your Positive Attitude is Your Best Motivation

You may not realize it, but your performance has the power to make or break your organization. Your attitude can be your greatest asset or your greatest liability. Unaware of that, employees often say, “My job is hard work. And my organization doesn’t even try to motivate me to do my best.” Today’s organizations realize that it is not their responsibility to motivate employees because motivation cannot come from the outside. Motivation is “an inside job.” This means that employees should not have to be coddled or coerced into working hard and doing an excellent job. A valuable employee, the kind an organization would work hard to hire and retain, is self-motivated.

Last but not the least, attitude is contagious. If that’s so, is yours worth catching?