Team members are affected by their leader's attitude and their attitudes in turn affect the leader. Teams are a lot like wheels: everyone is connected and each spoke (or team member) is necessary to make the wheel turn smoothly. When one or more team members get bogged down with a negative attitude, the wheel deflates or falters altogether. Helping your team maintain a positive attitude will ensure that things keep rolling.
The next time you are faced with negativity on your team, try using these 3 tips to regain a positive attitude:
- Set a time limit for the negativity. Give your team time to express their frustrations, but help them understand that once time's up, it will be time to renew focus and facilitate a positive atmosphere.
- Identify the negative behavior and its business impact. When you observe behavior that has a negative business impact occurring on your team, try to identify and implement more positive ways for you and your team to behave. For example, try setting ground rules on negativity in team meetings or asking for a "no gossip" commitment from team members.
- Take a holistic approach. Be aware of what you say, but also monitor your facial expressions and body language-negativity can be voiced in more ways than one.
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