A Simple Practice that Yields Disproportionate Advantage
“Half the leaders I have met don’t need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stop.” Peter Drucker
Bad is an erasure. One dingbat behavior erases many noble behaviors.
Disproportionate advantage:
Negative behaviors and experiences are 3X or 5X more powerful than positive. (The Power of Bad)
You might be great at strategy, but anger will lower your ability to influence teams. Since bad is stronger than good…
Disproportionate advantage comes when you eliminate negative behaviors.
Sincere dingbats repeat ineffective behaviors. When dingbats realize things aren’t working, they pedal faster.
Top 7 dingbat-leader practices:
- Exasperating good people.
- Falling in love with the sound of your voice.
- Defensive responses to feedback. (You don’t do everything well.)
- Leaving people to themselves. (Isolation.)
- Hanging with power-people and ignoring colleagues and team members.
- Walking around like you actually do the work. (Arrogance.)
- Allowing darkness to overshadow optimism. (Pessimism, nay-saying, and constant complaining.)
Continue useful leadership habits and stop at least one dingbat-practice.
Stop pessimism (#7 dingbat behavior):
“Life inflicts the same setbacks and tragedies on optimists as on the pessimist, but the optimist weathers them better.” Martin Seligman
Pessimists are more accurate than optimists. Obstacles emerge. Gains dissolve. The path forward is difficult.
Pessimism says huddle and protect.
Pessimists believe bad is:
- Permanent. (Things never change.)
- Pervasive. (Everyone, no one, always.)
- Personal. (It’s my fault.)
Optimism overcomes inertia.
Two steps to optimism:
#1. Practice optimism by shifting the above 3P’s.
#2. Practice optimism with disputation.
Dispute pessimistic conclusions.
“This is the worst.” Yes, it’s bad. Is it the worst? No!
“We’re never going to move forward,” is an overblown lie.
“Learned optimism works not through an unjustifiable positivity about the world but through the power of non-negative thinking.” Selegman
What should leaders STOP doing? What’s one thing you should stop?
How might pessimistic leaders practice optimism?
Bonus material:
Learned optimism assessment (Stanford)
15 Traits of a Terrible Leader (Success)
Are Optimists or Pessimists Better Leaders (Forbes)
Stop Punching Yourself in the Face: 13 Self-Defeating Behaviors to Avoid (Leadership Freak)
Stop making absolute statements
(they discourage constructive dialogue while encouraging pessimists to take one side or another).
Balance every negative statement (hard fact – with 3 soft affirmations.
Thanks Rurbane. I’m thankful you drop in to share your insights. Generally speaking, when leaders shut others down it’s a disadvantage.
Ideas for when the only cause for optimism is that sooner or later the end of the day will come and we have 8-10 hours before we have to do it again?
Thanks Mitch. I couldn’t help but think that work environments don’t change until people with authority and power want them to change.
….the chances are more like one in a million!
…..so you’re saying there’s a chance.
LOL… love that Paul.
For me, when times get tough, I work at keeping my mind on today. What am I going to accomplish TODAY, even if nobody else notices. It’s difficult, but if we can stay true to our personal core beliefs through the tough times, we will grow.
And that is the other thing that pushes me. We grow through adversity. I certainly do not enjoy the adversity, but I will become better, if I am paying attention and learning. Often learning how NOT to handle a situation.
Thanks Dan for your daily pouring into my life!
Thanks Rich. One of the things that really helps is the ability to pull back and take one day at a time. Looking too far into the future is overwhelming.
Leaders should stop being closed and allow all levels of input influence the outcome. A team fully engaged is a fully accountable team and thus a team that will take more pride in the process.
What’s one thing you should stop? I can’t do it all – balance.
How might pessimistic leaders practice optimism? Find the small victory in each day, embrace that, celebrate it and recognize those that made it happen, even if that is you.
Thanks Kishla. Being closed is often more stressful than being open. Controlling people have more difficulty with openness because they are afraid of not being able to control everything.
Just wanted to thank you for the bonus material you attach to your blog posts – I appreciated taking the survey you added to this post!
Thank you, Kathy. Your feedback is helpful.
I don’t think we have to wait for change from above. I have seen teams move forward and fix some very bad behavior. Of course they/we gave management the credit just so they were not mad. I am not sure that bad is more powerful it is just given that value by those stuck in it.
Thanks Walt. It’s amazing what can get done when we aren’t worried about who gets the credit.
Whether leader or team member, we all must balance courage and consideration. The proper mix results in Win-Win… too much courage with little consideration; or too much consideration, with little courage results in someone being the victim of bad behavior.
I love today’s post (like I feel differently any other day?)!
Thanks Brian. You’ve explained the tension between tough and tender with great words. It’s the first time I’ve thought about the distinction between courage and consideration.
Salient points, Dan! Thanks for the observations and recommendations. I’ve seen leaders who liked chaos and negativity because it precluded them from having to energize our teams and take risks. And there were the “yes, but” leaders who focused on potential failures instead of celebrating even small victories. I’m grateful for the leaders who encouraged our teams to be positive and go forward, regardless of the outcomes.
Thanks Carole. Ooo… got love the “yes buts.” I’m glad you brought it up. Just think of the change when leaders simply say YES without the BUT.
25 years ago working at a High Stress job at a Nuclear Plant on the East Coast my supervisor (who had been a medic in Vietnam) said, “Roger its not a life and death issue, just relax and work through it”. He had seen death many times in Nam and it had caused his focus to shift on “life issues” and he always shared that will all he worked with and supervised. I continue to remember that statement to this day, it always helps me focus on what is really necessary and important. It also helps me focus positively ahead in all that I attempt to do.
Powerful Roger. Sometimes we just need a some perspective. We our kids told us they needed something, I said, “You need air, food, and water.” Actually you WANT something. (They loved this.)
“Dingbat”. Love it! I was just discussing this today on the way in to work with a colleague. Whenever I ask her how she is she always replies “great!” so I called her on it. For her, she says it is always true, because she makes it that way. Not saying that bad things don’t happen, but her positive attitude gets her through it, and brings others with her. No one else can “make” you feel one way or another. It is all on you.
Thanks Andrea. What a great reminder. We, not others, are responsible for how we show up. Things don’t change until we get to that point. Of course, leaders have impact on environments. But your point is well taken.
My previous jobs were all such miserable places to work that I was in a constant state of negativity. I actually thought that it was the norm. I was always on the receiving end of the dingbat leader treatment as well, although I’m sure that I reciprocated more than a few times once I was fed up. Being on the receiving end, I don’t know what I could have done differently to change things for the better. Now that I am the leader (and hopefully not a dingbat leader), I never want to make any of my subordinates feel absolutely miserable just by showing up to work. High morale, positivity and optimism are 3 of the main goals that I have for my team.