“The way you think, positively or negatively, shapes your potential for well-being, personally and organizationally.” - Legacy Leadership

My business partner and I have spent many years observing and studying the skills that great leaders possess.  We have catalogued these skills and created a very comprehensive leadership model.  Probably one of the most significant learnings for us in this process that lasted over a decade was that the people who possess and employ these skills have an effect on others around them that is like a ripple effect.  The very act of leadership not only changes behaviors but changes people.  The people around great leaders become better people and, often, start to become leaders themselves.  Leadership is viral at best, and transformational, at least.

This is no less true in bad times than in good.

In the current economy, what many people focus on is the uncertainty, layoffs, cutbacks, losses, missed projections and flagging stock.  And, given that it is usually the executive suite that bears the primary responsibility - and often the blame - in these situations, it may be easy to understand how this could lure you, as a leader, into the same negative outlook. But as a leader, your negative attitude has a double impact.  First, on you and secondarily on everyone in your organization.

While I am not suggesting a simplistic PollyAnna response, and I certainly don’t recommend ignoring the pain and difficulty we may face in a downturn, I am suggesting that as Leaders we still have a choice about our own reaction and, more importantly, a responsibility for how this choice is influencing literally everyone else in our organizations.

How are you responding to your current challenges?  Is your own behavior and attitude a reflection of optimism and hope - of a commitment to rise to the challenge and make the best of the situation?  Or, are you finding yourself to be more short-tempered, less willing to hear new ideas - kicking the proverbial dog?  Check your eyebrows.  Are they lifted or knit?

As Leaders, we choose whether we model the negative, or the positive, in all situations. And what you ‘model’ not only affects, but quite possibly even drives the mood, behaviors, attitudes and energy of everyone else in the organization.

We humans are emotional beings.  While, perhaps, a higher percentage of successful leaders have a more logical, stoic, or at least more emotionally intelligent approach that allows them to navigate the complex world of big business, people are not primarily logical.  Motivation is not primarily rational.

On a very deep, evolutionary level, we all subconsciously broadcast our emotions.  Our body language, facial expressions, noises, breathing patterns, body temperature and even biochemical clues are sending a silent message that, although not always overtly noticed, never really goes unnoticed.  And we have not even mentioned the impact of your actual words and actions.

I always like to tell my clients that you are ìnever notî influencing.  The question is are you influencing consciously in a way that is going to leave the people around you and your organization better off?  Or are you being the ‘double negative?’

So, let me return to my questions stated earlier:

How are you responding to your current challenges?

Is your own mood, behavior, and attitude a reflection of optimism and hope - of a commitment to rise to the challenge and make the best of the situation?

As a leader you have worked hard to become influential.  That means you must also accept that you are always influential and make conscious choices about what you are inspiring in your people - in good times and in bad.