"We're Supposed To Win!" Yankee's Mgr. Joe Girardi

I’ve spent alot of time over the past couple of weeks talking to managers and company leaders about what they need as they enter 2010. Expecting to hear things like, “better education or trained people” or “a more diverse workforce” I was somewhat taken aback by the responses. Three that most typify the answers I got are:
“My people are discouraged by the business climate, so they need to learn to respond to it more proactively.”

“The sales and support people who came on board between 1991 and 2007 had never faced real challenges before, they need to learn to stop blaming everything on the economy, suck it up and become real winners.”

“Unfortunately, most of our older managers took early retirement in February and March. This left us with some bright, highly educated younger managers but they grew up in an environment that seems to have taught them that having a competitive spirit is a bad thing; that the old “win-win” that drove our economic engine in the 80’s and 90’s means making everybody happy—not making deals good for both sides through hardnosed negotiating.”

Well, I got to thinking about the situation and spent most of this weekend developing a talk (which will be expanded to a half day seminar) titled, “Winning Is Everything…When You Do It Right!” I know that’s a take off on Vince Lombardi’s famous, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” I also know from my reading of Lombardi, that he meant winning must be done fairly and ethically. Frankly, while I’ve found fulfillment in doing other career related programs, I’ve really missed standing before a group of bright folks and challenging them to catch a vision of what can be, rather than what is and “play like the champions” they can become.”

Developing a winning attitude, especially in this economy begins with learning to have positive emotions, which according to Neuro psychologist Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin provides the foundation needed to create the mental environment for emotional stability and better health in general. His work and that of several others in the field have shown that individuals who consistently choose a positive mindset are less likely to be stymied or become depressed in the face of negative influences.

Martin Seligman, former president of The American Psychological Association has written that “Literally hundreds of studies show that pessimists give up more easily and get depressed more often. These experiments also show that optimists do much better in school and college, at work and on the playing fields…their health is unusually good. They age well, much freer than most of us from the usual physical ills of middle age. Evidence suggest they may even live longer.”

A few years ago, I read an article by Lee Jampolsky, Ph.D. entitled, Exceptional Thinking Makes Exceptional Employees: How to Encourage Positive Thinking to Increase Productivity. In the article he points out that “Often attitude is the element that separates the average employee from an exceptional one. Yet, in business today, most employers do not emphasize the need for a positive attitude, nor do they provide their employees with the appropriate training they need to understand the importance of a ‘can do’ attitude.

Have A GREAT and profitable week...
Robert Hidde