Attitude is everything.

Attitude, outlook, perspective, approach – whatever we call it – it affects or changes everything.

What if something unexpected or unwanted happens? You lose your job, you “fail” at something, you don’t meet your goal? Well, it is what it is – we can’t control everything. But we can of course change our attitude, our outlook on what has happened.

I know it sounds simple and obvious, but yet, when we really need that attitude, we don’t always look for it – we get stuck in the “automatic” reaction of anger, disappointment, sadness, sense of failure. And the key word here is of course to go LOOK for the attitude. It’s a choice and it can be made at any time, in any situation.

And an easy way to LOOK for it and FIND it is to be ready with an attitude, a thought, a mantra if you like, which quickly gets you on the right path to take the next step to progress, success, results.

I have two favourites, which I always call on as a way to get me back on track – they were both used by the late Susan Jeffers PhD, author of the bestseller “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway” – a master of great attitude. The second one is of course also an old proverb.

It’s all happening perfectly

This too shall pass

And I’ve added my own: I will find out what good this will lead to

Because pretty much everything leads to something good – especially when we look for the good and expect it.

I have met so many people who have met disappointment and worse and have found (later on) that it was the best that could have happened to them.

People who have lost jobs and realised that it was the push they needed to take the long overdue step of doing something new that they had wanted but not dared to take.

People who have failed and realised that they never would have come up with that brilliant new idea unless they had failed and had to have a rethink.

People who have experienced conflict with their team members and realised that it forced them (in a good way) to take a new approach to teamwork, leading to much greater goal achievement and team climate.

Attitude is everything, and one of the few things completely within our own control. Completely – if we choose to take that control.

So go on, have an attitude!

Leadership is becoming more and more complex. We can see that as a threat or an opportunity, that’s our choice. I see it as an opportunity to learn and grow, which is always more fun than any extended status quo.

Increasing complexity means that as leaders we need to manage multiple stakeholders, greater expectations of transparency and to consider sustainability as a major driving force for business ethics and success.

There are no quick answers to any of these challenges/opportunities, but that shouldn’t be a reason for doing nothing. Here are 3 tips for leading in the increasingly complex environment of business.

1. Think of ALL the resources you need to do a great job and deliver results.

The HUMAN resources = your employees, customers, suppliers, interest groups, people impacted by your actions etc (your stakeholders). Who are you dependent on to do a great job? Who’s dependent on you, who’s impacted by your actions and behaviours? What’s important to them? What do you need to do to keep them onside, have their continued support? This includes creating an awareness of differences in cultures, personalities and more.

The NATURAL resources = water, air, land, vegetation, animals etc. What resources do you need for your work? What resources do you impact? How can you plan and execute your work with minimal impact?

The FINANCIAL resources = capital, shareholder investment etc. What budget do you need? Which financial indicators do you impact? How can you best impact finances in a positive way?

2. Think of your impact.

Think about what your actions and behaviours will lead to – who/what will be impacted, in what way? And not just immediately but also over time. And even if the impact is positive for one stakeholder or one resource, it may not be for other ones – if so, you need to consider how to deal with that.

3. As you consider the points above, create “impact grids”.

Here you can map out actions and behaviours and their (positive/negative/neutral) impact on people, natural resources and finances – so that you can make the best possible decisions.

The key to complexity is to think bigger, wider, further, longer term. To not just do what seems easiest or most obvious in the moment. Everything we do has consequences, sometimes greater than we realise – unless we start making a more thorough assessment of our practices.

Simply put:

It’s not enough to think about the customer, if the long term effect on the environment is too great – sooner or later it will damage your reputation and customer loyalty will falter.

It’s not enough to think about the environment if there’s no financial reward to what your doing – sooner or later you’ll run out of money to protect the natural resources.

It’s not enough to think about shareholder payback if the business practices are unethical – sooner or later it will impact your business viability and share value will drop.

For all of us, it’s about opening up to the growing complexity of business and making it work, by seeing beyond our day-to-day actions. And once we do, it’s a pretty compelling story of business sustainability.

Whether you are an employee, your own boss or without a job, make sure you view and think of yourself as “your own boss”, someone who is running your own business. As “You Ltd” you are hiring out your services to an organisation when you take employment.

And if this is true, then you are also responsible for your own development, and responsible for making yourself as valuable to organisations and marketable as possible, if you’re looking for a job or a promotion.

You have your own future in your hands. And that’s a great opportunity.

Map out what you are best at, ask yourself what your unique strengths are. An excellent way of doing this is by completing the ”Strengthsfinder”, an online test which helps you identify your strengths/human talent themes. To do the test you first need to buy the book “Strengthsfinder 2.0? by Tom Rath. Or you can do the more in-depth “StrengthScope” with a certified StrengthScope coach, or use any other strengths tools out there.

You can also ask others for feedback (your manager, colleagues, employees, customers, friends) to further understand what you are good at – and what you need to improve to become more successful.

Then think of ways of maximising your strengths, really tapping into them, whatever role your are in. Tapping into your strengths can also be a a great way of working around “weaknesses” or improving development areas. Your talents and strengths are your greatest opportunities for further success.

Review your career – what trends can you see, what jobs have you had, what strengths and capabilities have you used? What have you done and achieved? We’ve all achieved loads but rarely take the time to sit down and really map it out, or make the most of it.

Practice talking about yourself, your qualities, knowledge, skills and results. Ask a friend or colleague to listen and give you feedback. Remembering that it’s always about the value you can give to others.

If you’re looking for a job, think of how you can explain and link how your particular experience makes you the right person for the job. How you can clarify how all your experience and qualities can become of value for them, the company and its results.

Invest in yourself – you are your own greatest asset. What knowledge and qualities are desired in the marketplace, now or in the future? What’s needed out there? Where can you add value? How can you keep building your value by adding knowledge, experience and qualities that you think are relevant for you, your dreams and ambitions?

Attended seminars and workshops. And if you don’t have a big development budget, not to worry – it doesn’t have to be expensive or cost more than your time. There are many shorter seminars, webinars and tele-seminars that are free of charge. Shop around!

Join relevant networks of people with similar interests, from the same industry or with other relevant connections.

Read, listen to audiobooks and podcasts, watch TED-videos, surf the net for information…..

There are endless development opportunities for continuous development and making yourself more marketable. Which ones will you take?

Multitasking has long been praised as a great thing. Well, I say it’s a curse – and let me tell you why.

When you’re multitasking you are not really giving anything your full attention. And if nothing gets full attention, it’s not getting all of you. And are you at your best if you’re not tapping into all of you? I’d say no.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who recognises scenarios such as these:

Responding to emails while on a conference call – missing out on some key information that was shared at some point

Checking text messages while listening to what the children did at school – not really hearing how their day has been

Checking the phone while in meetings – sending the message to the other meeting participants that they are less important (even if not meaning to)

Working on a presentation and getting distracted by the pinging sound of an email in the inbox – going to check the email and losing trail of thought on the presentation, having to spend more time than needed on it

Sure, it’s good to be ABLE to multitask when needed – when a crisis hits, when a deadline looms – but to operate out of a multitasking mode all the time is to waste our capability away.

A more effective mode is to be 100% present in whatever we do, whomever we’re with. It may not work all the time, but any improvement is an improvement.

Try it out, it’s pretty cool – being 100% present.

It’s time for a rethink! Now!

Rational competence and rational solutions are hailed in most organisations.

Yeah, so what? you may think. And you would be right; it may not be a bad thing in and of itself, but the social aspect of the work place; how well people understand each other, how people communicate and work together is even more important! And for too long this has been ignored by many companies and institutions. There are probably rational reasons for this, such as believing that it’s not important or that it’s hard to impact or control.

BUT it cannot be swept under the carpet. Organizations that wish to achieve the best possible results ignore this at their own risk.

Recent brain research shows that social contact is a bigger motivation factor that money or even physical needs (read more in Why Organizations Fail by David Rock). And this is of course not a new human phenomenon, it’s as old as the human race – but most organizational systems are structured in such a way that it doesn’t factor in these very human needs enough. Even though the systems, the infrastructure are created by people. It is as if we think that business is something purely rational….

Personally I’ve lost count of how many people I have met over the years whom expressed that they are expected to be rational at work, and pretty much nothing else. And at least as many who have shared their frustration with not feeling understood by others at work…..

With this in mind it is not so strange then that so many change initiatives fail (70%!). Rational thinking doesn’t work when the emotions are engaged through fear and concern during change. And if most of the change communication focus on the rational reasons for change (”surely people must understand that….”) then it’s probably not so strange that people resist change which makes the process slow and unwieldy and the chance of success is minimised.

Organisations that want to succeed now and maybe even more importantly in the long run, need to consider these very human aspects of business much more than they do today.

Hire/develop leaders with both rational and social/emotional competence
Develop/train employees in communication, self awareness and self leadership, empathy and co-operation
And use the infrastructure/organisational systems as a way to work effectively together, not just as a rational system
What do you say? It’s time for a rethink, isn’t it!