Tag: Negative

Failure (part 1)

Who or what determines failure? Why is failure seen as negative? How can leaders deal with failure in ways to improve and benefit their leadership?

Consider a couple of steps:

First, recognize failure is inevitable. No matter who you are or where you are, failure takes place.

Second, acknowledge it and take responsibility. Do not ignore, deny, or cast blame when failure occurs.

Third, failure is not fatal. Winston Churchill is credited with saying, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”

The Power of Attitude

Our attitude and approach to leadership influences the type of work we accomplish.

Charles Schwab once said, “I have yet to find a man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.”

If leadership is dictatorial, negative, and critical there are consistent challenges to reaching goals.

Our leadership excels with a spirit of positive approval and affirmation. The world has plenty of critics. It seems natural to offer criticism, even when praise is necessary.

God intended the church to be a refuge. If we want success in our leadership, the thought here is worth considering.

Downside vs Upside

Why is it life and leadership cannot always be about the upside? Is there a purpose to dealing with the negative struggles challenging life and leadership?

Spiritual leaders know the downside helps in developing an appreciation for the upside.

God’s power is perfected in our lives as a result of enduring the downside.

The downside is designed to equip us with an ability to help others who are suffering.

The difference is found in the way leaders respond to these challenges. The downside indicates that challenges and problems will come. The upside is they are only temporary.

Lead with the hope of knowing there is an upside.

Self-Awareness

The ability to be self-aware and self-evaluate is easier said than done. The difficulty exists in recognizing the inward truths that often escape reality.

Marianne Williamson said, “Take stock of your thoughts and behavior. Each night ask yourself, when were you negative when you could have been positive? When did you withhold love when you might have given it? When did you play a neurotic game instead of behaving in a powerful way? Use this process to self-correct.”

When we ask the kind of questions that challenge painful answers, we find ways to improve the influence of our leadership and help others follow with confidence.

Leading Change

Our bodies constantly change from birth to death. The earth changes with every turn on the axis. And every decision in any organization produces change.

The idea of change often represents moving into a bad place. Maybe it’s because the approach was to tear down or destroy something in the past.

The positive side of change can be realized if we do not remove the old, but use it as a foundation to build something new.

Dan Millman says, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

Great things can be accomplished by looking through a different lens.

Memories

Memories are good and bad. There are times, events, and people that we remember fondly because of the joys experienced with them.

There are also times, events, and people we wish we could forget because of the negativity associated.

The manner in which we react regarding the recall of those memories influences how we are seen as leaders and the leadership we provide for others.

Memories help us learn to do a couple of important steps.

1) Repeat what works and is successful.
2) Avoid negative consequences experienced and overcome.

If we remember to do so, the future will hold greater memories when we recall them.

Optimistic Leaders

Optimism includes hope and confidence about the future or outcome.

The contrast between leaders who are optimistic and those who are not can be associated with age and experience. Encountering negative experiences in life often hinders optimistic leadership.

How do leaders keep hope and confidence alive?

1) Remember, “everyone” is not against you.
2) Stop trying to live in or change the past.
3) Surround yourself with optimistic people.
4) Be realistic about personal expectations.
5) Learn to accept who you are as a person.
6) Express gratitude for what you have.
7) Reflect often on the positive areas of life.

Try it and see how contagious it becomes.

Bad Things Happen

No one is immune to the negative, discouraging, or “bad” that occurs, even if we chalk it up to perspective.

However, regardless of perspective, the choice we make when these events happen is what makes the difference.

It has been said, “When something bad happens you have three choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.” Author Unknown

If difficulties define us, we tend to focus on the drudgery of life.
If difficulties destroy us, then life becomes little more than existence.
If difficulties strengthen us, we are better prepared to help others face the same challenges.

Power of Positive Thinking

The concept of positive thinking is not new for anyone. However, developing the mind of leadership requires us to consider the influence of our attitude on everyone around us.

Sadly, at some point we will deal with those who are critical and negative. They look for ways to put others down or criticize. We could spend several posts to discuss why, but that is not the point.

We must remember to utilize our strength and courage to believe in ourselves and use negativity or criticism in a way that becomes positive in an effort to achieve our plans.

This characterizes the power of our leadership.

Trust and Respect

When leadership fails there is a loss of trust and respect.

The task before leaders is learning what to do to regain trust and respect when it has been lost.

Three negatives: 1) Do not ignore or deny it, 2) Do not attempt to cover it up, and 3) Never blame someone else.

Instead, consider four positives: 1) Admit the failure, 2) Be specific about the failure), 3) Ask for forgiveness, and 4) Give a step by step plan for overcoming the failure.

A simple upfront approach is where the healing begins.