Recently I was working with a company to solve a long-standing problem in one of their departments.
The stressed owner of the company was frustrated at the lack of positive results.
The company had brought in professionals over a period of years, but to no avail.
In fact, things were getting worse. Shortly after I came onboard to help, the owner sent out an email to his staff complaining about another round of exceedingly poor results. I replied to all, that this was perfect because there was only one way to go and this was up.
The owner almost went ballistic. But he didn't fire me. (I guess he was desperate, and I had guaranteed him that I would solve his problem or he wouldn't have to pay.)
As business leaders, why do we so often focus on the negative? The answer, in one word, is frustration. We are frustrated because, in spite of our efforts for success, we are running into roadblocks.
We get frustrated when we myopically focus too long on our problem. In other words, we are too close to the problem because we are stuck in the weeds of the business.
We get frustrated because all our interventions are unsuccessful. We become frustrated because we are the leaders, and leaders are supposed to know how to fix the problems, and here we have this big unsolvable problem.
When this frustration happens, we too often lash out and focus on the negative.
It's easy to find problems and to be critical of those around us when nobody seems to be doing anything right. It's easy to see drama and dysfunction when we are unable to see the great things that are happening, the wonderful people we have.
When we get into that downhill spiral of negativity, it's often hard to change until we hit rock bottom. When this happens in a business we start losing morale, staff, and finally sadly, customers. Negativity can sink a business very quickly.
Nobody likes to be around a negative person, especially a negative leader, just as nobody wants to deal with a company where the vibes are bad. We have to figure out ways to break the cycle of negativity and create a positive culture within our organizations.
Over the period of the next couple months, I worked with the company's team members individually and collectively to figure out how to solve the problem of poor results. We started focusing on all the positive things that were happening in the department.
We looked at poor results as challenges, not failures, and they came up with solutions that they committed to.
As results started to improve, they celebrated their successes.
They pumped each other up and shared updates of the achievements the team started seeing. Within weeks it seemed like they had turned the corner.
While it might seem incredible that this team was able to fix a long-standing problem in a few months, the key was focusing on success and not the failures.
Science shows that when we look for good things that are happening, we find them. Our brain is programed to search out whatever we tell it to focus on.
When we train our teams to focus on success, their brains will follow. Ultimately the success of our company is determined by the culture we breed.
Why not start breeding a culture of success by focusing and rewarding it within your organization and see if you can get the same results as this one company did.
Dave Fuller MBA, is a certified professional business coach and the author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Have a longstanding problem you want solved with guaranteed results? Email dave@profityourselfhealthy.com.
