Attitude Reflects Leadership (A // L)

So do you think that the people reporting to you have a bad attitude? Well here’s an idea…the 100 small things that you do…or don’t do…without…or with deliberate intent actually shapes very powerfully the underlying beliefs and assumptions of those very same people. And the ‘attitude’ of your people is in part, sometimes in very large part, the consequence of your action…or your inactions!

In the film ‘Remember the Titans’ there is an instructive encounter between the Captain of a High School football team and one of his players. In response to a comment by the captain; “That’s the worst attitude I have ever heard” the player retorts: “’Attitude reflects leadership”. It is a telling reminder that we should expect our people to be, at best, no more than one step behind us when it comes to their level of commitment to business initiatives, change and approach to work.

Another way of saying this is that there may be competitive advantage for your business in spending less time worrying about ‘problem employees’ and more time addressing ‘problem managers’.