Negative attitudes are a lot like the common cold, it can start with just one employee, but soon everyone is feeling the effects and morale and performance decline. But unlike the common cold, there’s a cure. Enthusiasm and positive attitudes can spread just as quickly-improving performance and increasing productivity!
Here are 5 tips for overcoming workplace negativity with enthusiasm:
1. Turn Barriers into Opportunities
Look at negative behaviors and attitudes as opportunities for improvement. Now instead of dreading these issues, you can maintain your own positive attitude by controlling your response. Often negativity starts with negative self-talk—the looped messages that play over and over in our heads to darken our outlook and erode our confidence.
2. Replace Negative Self-Talk with Positive Self-Talk
Negative thoughts lead to self-doubt and failure. Look for negative messages in your own thinking or in the thinking and actions of others. Try turning the negatives into positives. Positive thinking will result in positive actions and results.
3. Build Relationships Based on Trust
Use positive attitudes and enthusiasm to build relationships. Negative attitudes make it difficult to trust others; and without trust you can’t influence positive change. Taking action to build trust will increase comfort levels and strengthen relationships.
4. Win People to Your Way of Thinking
The only way to win an argument is to avoid it. When handled correctly, disagreements and debates are opportunities for positive change. When disagreements arise, show respect for the opinions of others, never tell someone they are wrong, and try to see things from the other point of view.
5. Disagree Agreeably
The key question that we all face is, “How do we disagree agreeably and still have our ideas heard?” Keep the lines of communication open by trying to see things from a different perspective. Take the time to really think about how the other person thinks and why they feel the way they do.