The Importance of Attitudes in Leadership Brandon Kessler

The Importance of Attitudes in Leadership Brandon Kessler Brendia Morrison Phil Bolton Virginia Leonard Jim Browning

Defining Attitude • manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc. with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind. (Webster online dictionary, 2009)

How are attitudes formed? • Natural disposition • Formed through relationships / experiences – “parents are our first teachers” (Bevilacqua, 2009)

Elements of Attitude • • Individuality Background Personal Choice Thought Patterns (Stanton et al. , 2009)

Attitude Behavior (Stanton et al. , 2009)

Developing your attitude in terms of leadership: • Task orientation – Directive Attitude • Employee orientation – Supportive Attitude (Vecchio, 1988) (Zigarmi et al. , 1986)

Developing your attitude is important! How do you lead your group? What is your attitude to both them and the task at hand? Country Club Management Team Management Supporting Coaching Impoverished Management Authority / Obedience Management Delegating Directing • Impoverished Management • (low concern for the task, low concern for people) • Country Club Management • (low concern for the task, high concern for the people) • Authority/Obedience Management • (high concern for task, low concern for people) • Team Management • (high concern for task, high concern for people) (Vecchio, 1988) (Zigarmi et al. , 1986)

Attitude Components and Dynamics ATTITUDE toward referent or object INTENTIONS to behave VALUES Held as important (Carter-Scott et al. , 2004) OBSERVABLE BEHAVIOR

Development: Are we really who we should be? Attitude Knowledge Conscience Choices

Attitude is Everything

Attitude “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. ” Victor Frankl (Carter-Scott et al. , 2004)

The Right Attitude… • • • determines how you view things. quality of your life. how you view life. how we face adversity. how face obstacles. (Carter-Scott et al. , 2004)

Attitude Facts • Estimated that Success is 80% Attitude and 20% Aptitude • Positive Mental Attitude – Enriches your Personal Life – Your Relationships – Your Career • Positive Outlook – the difference between enjoying what you do or simply tolerating it. (Thomas, 1998)

Example of the Learning and Expression of Attitude toward Work and Career Father Was Never Late or Unnecessarily Absent From his Job Current Job with High Pay and Good Promotion Prospects Positive Experiences With Past and Present Supervisors Help, Encouragement & Rewards From Teachers Parents Involve Child with Interesting Work Projects at Home Mother Won an Award for Helping Her Company in an Emergency Many Opportunities to Socialize With Successful People (Carter-Scott et al. , 2004)

Attributes of Leaders with a Positive Attitude • A person of value • Creates a positive action plan to meet goals • Beliefs – instill these into the people around you – demonstrate through action • Provide intellectual nutrition and transform minds (Harrell, 2003)

Attributes of Leaders with a Positive Attitude cont. • • • Be passionate about what you do The right attitude creates opportunity The right attitude motivates others Inspire others Lead yourself first (Harrell, 2003)

Leaders Lead Themselves First • Identify your own SWOT – Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threat • P A T – Principle of Successful Leadership – Passion – Approachability – Thoughtfulness (Harrell, 2003)

Leaders Lead Themselves First • “Loose lead” – lead by example • “Pull leadership” – leading the way shows the way • Avoid “push leadership” – pushing others while you remain idle (Harrell, 2003)

Attitude – Put It Into Practice • Attitude About Yourself: – Hopeful vs. Helpless – Dream vs. Doubt • Attitude About Others: – Strengths vs. Flaws – Accepting vs. Judging • Attitude About the World: – Opportunities vs. Problems – Embracing vs. Resisting (Ursiny et al. , 2008)

10 Steps to a Positive Attitude • • • Keep Your Life Balanced Don’t Give Up Make the Most of the Situation Engage in Positive Self-Talk Visualize Success Attack Problems Head-On Look for the Bright Side Maintain a Sense of Humor Make Work Fun Accentuate the Positives (Fritz, 2008)

Attitude The connection between the mind, heart, and body. (Ursiny et al. , 2008)

Impact of Attitude

Impact is Influence - to produce an effect on by imperceptible or intangible means; sway. (American Heritage Dictionary)

Leaders as Influencers Skilled Influencers • Help their followers transform their attitudes toward a behavior • Help followers see the implications of their actions and choices • Help followers become personally motivated to enact new behaviors (Grenny et al. , 2008)

Leaders as Influencers Ineffective Influencers • Assume there is no way to change followers attitudes toward a behavior • Compensate for lack of personal motivation by: – Pressuring & Forcing • Peer Pressure – Bribing and Threatening • Carrots & Sticks (Grenny et al. , 2008)

Impact A critical part of attitude is empowerment Equipping followers with authority and abilities Attitude Predicates and Dictates Performance Good Attitude = Good Performance Poor Attitude = Poor Performance Positive Mental Attitude is Contagious Unfortunately, so is a bad attitude (Lutz, 2005)

Impact Attitude is often the deciding factor in new hires An applicant who: - Gets along well with others - Handles pressure and stress - Demonstrates a pleasant personality and attitude …is more likely to do a good job than one lacking those qualities. (Weiss, 2001)

As Albert Einstein put it: “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means. ” (Garrett, 2001)

Attitude Limitations

5 Crippling Habits: Are they attacking your organization? • • • Absence of Clear Directives Lack of Accountability Rationalizing Inferior Performance Planning in Lieu of Action Aversion to Risk and Change (Prosen, 2006)

Communication in the Workplace • Nonverbal Communication Sends Messages – Body language – Facial expression – Vocal intonation • Everyday Attitudes, Behaviors, and Decisions – What employees see (Lee, 2008)

Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words? • Powerful communication tool – Attitudes – Behaviors • Managers/Leaders usually do not plan for this – Missed Opportunity • Attitudes/Behaviors are displayed daily – Day-to-day choices – Habits – Expectations and biases – Hunches (Lee, 2008)

How to Reinforce the Vision or Influence Attitude • Leadership Behaviors • Visibility • Personnel Choices • Use of Time • Presence and Accessibility “All good performance starts with clear goals. ” Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (Lee, 2008)

What May Limit Your Skills? Poor work ethic/poor quality work Unprofessional behavior Negative attitude Unwilling/unable to learn new things Lack of commitment Poor communication skills Acting arrogantly Unreceptive to feedback/unwilling to take responsibility for mistakes • Lack of leadership/client service abilities • • (Ivancevich, 2009)

“The key to developing people is to catch them doing something right. ” Ken Blanchard Spencer Johnson The One Minute Leader (Blanchard, 2007)

Changes in Attitude……… From Above, Below, Sideways…………. …. . The floggings will continue until morale improves… Solution: Mutiny ………. Changes in Latitudes, changes in attitudes…… Solution: Margaritaville ………………. . You can take this job and shove it……. Solution: Lottery (Buffett, 1977) (Coe, 1976)

Attitude vs. Leadership Styles • Transactional Some Perceptions…. • Transformational ……. we have explored

Measure of Leadership How you perceive yourself And How others perceive You Transactional Transformational Influence Your Effectiveness In Leadership Your Behavior and the Behavior of Others Attitudes (Maxwell, 2005)

The Research • Significant amount of material on work attitudes and behaviors • Many different conclusions • Many different definitions of “attitude” – – Values Attitudes Moods (VAM) Model Attitude Structure Meaning at Work numerous others…………. (George et al. , 1997) (Olson et al. , 1993) (Epps, 2003)

What to Change…… • Influences on Attitude – How you view your environment – How you view the people around you – How the people around you view you • Indicators: – Job Satisfaction – Job Involvement – Organizational Commitment (George et al. , 1997)

Attitude Change Potential • Potential for change is dependent on personality traits and baseline attitudes – Ability to deal positively with change – Curmudgeon Factor (George et al. , 1997) (Epps, 2003)

Changing Attitudes Current State Future State Environment Negative Influence Environment Factors Negated Perception: Credibility Issues Perceptions Corrected: Credibility Established! Bad Attitudes, Not meeting Requirements -Social Loafing Practically Perfect …… …………. . in every way! Happy and Productive (George et al. , 1997) (Stevenson et al. , 1964)

No Simple Answers • Attitudes are based on multidimensional, individual personalities and situations – Current environments – Current organizational culture – Current career point and expectations 36 Basic Values, Hundreds of Attitudes…… (Rokeach, 1973)

Up Across Down Ideas for Change Indicators Action Negative Attitude Body Language/Facial Expressions Verbal Comments Social Loafing Absenteeism Positive Attitude Body Language/Facial Expressions Verbal Comments Communicator & Listener Commitment/Achievement Mentors and Trains (George et al. , 1997) (Stevenson et al. , 1973) Communicate Listen Look for Obvious Cause Encourage/ Assist Change the environment Re-assign/ Remove Recognize & Acknowledge Challenge & Stretch Expand Responsibilities Reward & Promote Mentor Others (Epps, 2003) (Maxwell, 2005)

5 Steps to Changing Your Attitude • Step 1: Learn More – the more you know positive attitude success • Step 2: Identify the Pitfalls – identify unknown factors examine fears • Step 3: Learn Positive Self-Talk – creates self-image, level of self-esteem, self-confidence, and your attitude • Step 4: Make Daily Affirmations – repeat your goals daily • Step 5: Surround Yourself with Positive People – close your mind to negativity (Carter-Scott et al. , 2004) confidence

Attitude Change - Summary • Attitude is Critically Important in Effective Leadership • You must understand What drives attitudes on your team in order determine How you can make changes – Multitude of factors influence attitude – Some people are easily influenced – Some people will never change

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