The Attitude of Greatness takes not only the mindset but requires action

bycbuffone

504 followers

Updated 7 years ago

Attitude no question is one of the most powerful and important success factors out there and it is there for the taking. You do not need to invest any money. it is simply a decision to make. A mindset and one of actions to take.

I am amazed by so many stories of people who have had tremendous difficulties in their lives but have managed to overcome them and prosper. In many cases, their attitude was the underlying driver. These people not only took positive thoughts (which certainly makes us feel better) and visualized their Goals, but they also took some form of action to reinforce their positive attitudes.

When I was just starting out, I worked for a very large tubing manufacturer. I had the privilege of having George as one of my first bosses. George was an experienced manager and he knew the business and how to manage (motivate) people.

George was always in a positive mood. A key part of his daily task was managing by walking around. When he did this, he was looking at how the operation was running. While he did that, he was constantly complimenting people, smiling, laughing and just being happy. He started work early (at least an hour before everyone else) every single day with that happy disposition. If you asked him how he was, it was always Great, Awesome, Fantastic or something to that effect.

This was a man who positively affected everyone he came into contact with. He was well respected throughout the organization, even externally by our Customers and by our Suppliers. Needless to say, he immediately became one of my mentors.

I could see that his attitude was contagious with everyone, from the working Associates, the Supervisors, other Managers and our Customers and Suppliers too. He seemed to have this innate ability to touch a button with each person, as he smiled, they smiled back. Sometimes people asked him what he had eaten for breakfast. Others asked him to share the type of medications that he was on so they could be happy too..

What really amazed me was that this small thing he did daily, translated into everyone (his superiors included) who dealt with him, to really listen to what he had to say. Other employees seemed to be motivated and Customers’ were convinced to buy what he was selling.

As a team building exercise, George always invited his Team out for a drink every Friday after our shift ended. We talked about the week, the good the bad and if we had tom revised plans of what we needed to do better the following week. One Friday, Sal, one of the other Supervisors, asked George if he really was always "Great.” like he always said he was. George laughed and then answered, "Of course not, but when I say it over and over again, I know that sooner or later I know that I will feel Great. I have to tell you, I feel better with every smile that I see. When I tell others and myself that I am Great, it convinces my head that I am. What really floats my boat though and really makes me feel Great. is when I am able to make other people feel Great When I see how great they feel after I give them a compliment, what can I say, they feel Great and in return, of course I feel Great".

I know from personal experience that when crappy things happen to us, like when we fail at something and it can certainly be very challenging to stay positive. We can easily fall into the negativity trap, especially if we focus on how we feel.

To me, the George example really illustrates that we must not not focus on how we feel, but instead we have to be our own catalyst to create the feelings that we want. We have to do the things that will make us feel Great. So why not just work at trying to make others feel Great.

George’s rules:

1. Get up at least an hour earlier than usual. (You don’t want to get up at the last minute and rush through and be stressed the whole day). Review your plan for the day. Start to work earlier than others.

2. List out three (3) things you are grateful for.Get inspiration from inspirational Material – Read a blog, a few paragraphs in book, then ask yourself what two (2) things I can do today to make this a Great Day!

3. Strive to do one thing for everyone that you encounter to help them feel Great about themselves.

The right Attitude can be easily created every day if we focus on taking the right actions. That positive Attitude will be contagious. If can create a positive environment and generate a buzz it will certainly create a positive air and feeling. That will help is immensely in achieving more.

I know it can be a challenge in the online world for us to do this, especially with our Customer base. We do not have that physical contact. I think the tact in how we communicate is paramount, whether it is in our Community, here at WA (I do see a lot of this already in the WA Community), writing in our blogs, our websites, social media etc. How we conduct ourselves and how we respond to comments can be wrapped in a positive disposition of Greatness and showcase our positive Attitude and it will spill over.

Mum used to say that every single day cannot be a great one, but in every single day there is certainly something great!

Let us strive to be the ones who make the contribution of greatness today.

Claudio