A Right Sized Attitude in a Downsized Market
Part 1
By Valarie D. Willis

What is it going to take for leaders in organizations to thrive and keep their teams on track in this economy?

There are five key attitudes that leaders should possess to survive this downturn and downsized market. Today's down economy gives every leader the opportunity to display a new sense of courage, a new sense of innovation, and a new sense of creativity within their work environment.

The Right Sized Attitude

What does the right attitude look like for today's environment? I have long been a believer that the right attitude, combined with the right competencies are core leadership attributes.

I recently watched one of the cook-off shows on television. There were five bright and talented personal chefs, all competing for the big win. One of the chefs did not do well on one of the challenges and from that point on, the defeated attitude that this chef had was undermining her ability to perform.

This show reminded me that when a leader is under pressure, when the environment has changed and there is a lot of ambiguity, the leader needs the right attitude to stay on course.

1. Positivity:

Leaders need to eat, sleep and breath being positive at all times. This does not mean a leader takes on a Pollyanna attitude, but the leader tries to see the opportunities in the midst of the downturn.

It also means that leaders diligently look for positive things that are going on in the organization, with clients and customers and in the world. Take every moment to turn what could be perceived as a negative into something more positive.

For example, if you have not yet reached your sales goals, the usual stance is that leaders focus on how far behind they are on the goal, or how much more needs to come in.

Turn that around, first acknowledge what has been done and if someone has gone the extra mile to help achieve part of the goal, stop and celebrate that. Then focus on where you want to go.

Break that large goal into more manageable chunks for people, so that they can experience small victories along the way. Let the success of a small victory help you get to the next milestone.