http://johnmaxwellonleadership.com/2010/09/24/attitude-is-contagious-%e2%80%93-what-are-people-catching-from-you/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JohnMaxwellOnLeadership+%28John+Maxwell+on+Leadership%29
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"People won't go along with you if they can't get along with you." (John C. Maxwell)
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Al Casey, whom many consider one of the Top 10 CEOs of the 20th century (as CEO of American Airlines in the 70s and 80s, he led the industry through deregulation), prized Dr. Charles Swindoll's definition of "Attitude." We'll quote a portion of it here: "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life ... I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent of how I react to it."
John C. Maxwell carries the torch with his 9/24 post (attached). He reminds us that several things on a team are NOT contagious: talent, experience, willingness to practice. BUT, attitude is catching: "People have a tendency to adopt the attitude of those they spend time with - to pick up on their mindset, beliefs and approaches to challenges."
Maxwell goes on to quote an idea from Fred Smith about there being two kinds of people in any organization: polluters and purifiers.
"POLLUTERS are like smokestacks, belching out dirty smoke all the time. They hate clear skies, and no matter how clear the air is, they can find a way to poison it with gloom. When the people around them "breathe" their toxins, they feel sicker and sicker."
"PURIFIERS, on the other hand, make everything around them better. It doesn't matter what kind of rotten atmosphere they encounter. They take in the toxic words of polluters in the organization just as everyone else does, but they filter the words before they pass them on. What goes in may be gloomy and negative, but when it comes back out, it's fresh and clear."
Leading doesn't necessarily mean you have people working for you - leading is the example you set from wherever you are. Do you do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it? Do you help others when you can?
Al Casey would have agreed. :)
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Polluters and Purifiers, I like that.
ReplyDeleteGary: thank you! Working inside organizations, we need to remind ourselves of that and work on "purification!"
ReplyDeleteAnother great post Mr. Hazz!
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's hard not to get caught in the pollution. Once it's set, it might be hard to clean up, specially in tough times like these.
Reminders always help, and this is a great one! Thanks!
PoNCh: Thanks so much for your input! It's good to hear from you and I appreciate your input on the issue! I certainly had enough years dealing with the "Polluters." They outnumbered me! :)
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