Work and Attitude

18 Mar

There’s a pervasive general belief that having the right attitude—a positive attitude—is critical to success. This is a particularly popular notion in the workplace. But how important is attitude?

The Experts Agree
I didn’t comb through every blog post, magazine article, and behavioral study for the past century, but my research on attitude has uncovered a seemingly unanimous verdict. It appears everyone agrees that a positive outlook has a constructive correlation to success.

Keith Harrell at Success says: “One of the most important steps you can take toward achieving your greatest potential in life is to learn to monitor your attitude and its impact on your work performance, relationships and everyone around you.”

In Entrepreneur, Sherrie Campbell wrote: “Your outlook involves your perception of success (or failure) and has a big impact on the viability of your career.”

Geoffrey James states for Inc.: “Your attitude defines and delimits your level of success. If you have a generally lousy attitude, you'll never really be successful. If you have a generally upbeat attitude, however, you'll always achieve at least some level of success.”

These are just a sampling of the myriad optimistic ideas on the relationship between an upbeat attitude and professional success. From reading through these and many more articles, it starts to seem like a positive attitude is the number one indicator for achievement. A 2013 piece in Time cites a study that found that 89% of new hires who failed in their first 18 months after being brought on by a Fortune 500 company tanked due to reasons related to their attitude! The same article suggests you “hire for attitude,” screening applicants for positive outlooks.

Is Attitude Really Everything?
Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of people.  Some of these individuals had a great attitude but did not have the skills or knowledge at their stage of development to deliver real results.  Often these people can talk the talk but their ability is too far removed from that implied by their optimistic attitude.  There needs to be more.

Instead of looking at it as the foremost qualification for a candidate, a positive attitude should be viewed as the motor that drives the existing knowledge and skills. A prospective employee should have appropriate education, experience, and practical knowledge first and foremost. If you find someone who is qualified, then consider attitude.

Without the right attitude, no one can deliver sustained success. If someone is negative, or even neutral, apathy and then burnout can happen much more quickly. This would seem to relate back to those high failure rates mentioned previously.

How to Detect Positivity
Even though attitude isn’t the first thing to screen an applicant for, it is important. Detecting positivity in a person requires more nuance than what is obvious.

The stereotypical positive person is exploding with energy.  This person is a myth. People who have the right attitude probably won’t behave like this, especially not during the interview process.

Screening applicants to see if they are the positive person you want on board is not that difficult though, especially if you heed the advice of seasoned recruiters and other HR professionals. For instance, Fletcher Wimbush at ERE Media posted his six-step A Simple Guide to Interviewing for Attitude, and it has some solid suggestions. His advice includes asking pointed questions pertaining to how the candidate interacted with their former supervisors and coworkers and using an assessment tool, like a personality test.

Wimbush also suggests asking questions about what the candidate would do in certain situations (often referred to as behavioral questioning). I agree that this kind questioning can help uncover whether or not he or she is a team player with the right attitude.

Overall, I find the words a candidate chooses and how he or she responds to questions can be very telling. It is a red flag for me when a candidate shifts blame or responsibility to others, seems to avoid taking on problems (even though they may have strong opinions on what should be done), or uses negative language to describe those they’ve previously worked with. Pay close attention, as a poor attitude isn’t always blatant.

It is apparent attitude does indeed play a factor in professional success, so making sure you do screen for it is imperative. However, don’t let yourself be blinded by a sunny disposition during the interview process, as proper qualifications and previous accomplishments build the foundation for achievement. Don’t put all of the responsibility for an optimistic outlook on your hires—once you’ve brought them onboard, foster a positive attitude in your team on an ongoing basis for continued wins.