Originally published in the March 2003 Issue of Link & Learn.

The key to achieving greater levels of performance in the workplace is to equip people with ways to uncover and eliminate hidden attitudinal barriers, and re-discover long dormant positive behaviors.

A Model for Personal Change

One of the most significant human potential concepts of the 20th Century was the "Power of Positive Thinking" developed by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. His writings and teachings have impacted millions of people over the past seventy-five years. His best-selling book, The Power of Positive Thinking has sold over 26 million copies.

Today, the concepts, methods and tools associated with the "Power of Positive Thinking" have been adapted into a contemporary model designed to help individuals and organizations achieve greater productivity, and improved profitability.

Most performance improvement models tend to focus on changing organizational structure, improving work processes, and increasing the level of knowledge and skills. What they all presume though is that the people within the organization are pre-disposed to act in accordance with the models, which of course is not necessarily true. Why is it then, that even when people are equipped with the requisite knowledge, skills, systems, and processes that they often fail to achieve optimum levels of performance? It's generally due to attitudinal barriers, which are ultimately responsible for our behavior, both positive and negative.

Attitudinal barriers are internal, and as a result we have a high degree of control over them. But because they operate on mostly a sub-conscious level, we are not always aware of them and their influence over us. Some examples of internal, negative attitudinal barriers include fear, lack of confidence, and low self-esteem. There are also external barriers that negatively impact performance. External barriers occur on a more conscious level, but are very dangerous because they are perceived as being outside one's sphere of influence. Some examples of external barriers we see in business: lack of management support, limited budget, lack of training, etc. Although external barriers may seem out of our control, the way we view them is very much in our control. In other words, we can change the way we choose to react to external situations. With that in mind, external barriers are really nothing more than carefully disguised internal barriers. Most managers are not equipped with methods to deal with these types of performance barriers. As a result, they equate poor performance with a lack of a particular skill or knowledge and then send everyone back to training. The attitudinal barriers are not considered, or are shrugged off because of a prevalent belief that "you can't change attitudes." This is where positive thinking plays such a powerful role. Positive thinking involves a process that removes negative thoughts and feelings, and transforms them into positive behaviors. Up until now, there were no clear guidelines on how to apply positive thinking in business. After years of research and development, a structured process has been developed around the core principles of positive thinking. This structured process provides managers and employees with a roadmap to proactively deal with challenging situations.

At the heart of the positive thinking roadmap is two core sets of principles: The first principle is "truth-in-thinking" which enables people to uncover and eliminate self-limiting beliefs and attitudes. The other principle involves ten key traits that re-instill somewhat dormant positive behaviors.

Truth-in-Thinking

Research tells us that most of us, when confronted with tough, challenging, situations default to a negative mindset. We tend to "awfulize" situations by taking the worst case scenario in a given event. As a result we limit the likelihood of a positive, successful outcome. A few years ago, I was contacted by an executive looking for guidance on how to handle an increasingly gloomy work situation. "Mike" was a loyal twelve-year veteran of a Fortune 500 company who was informed by his boss of a pending merger with a much bigger competitor. Mike immediately saw the downside; "chances are I'll lose my job," "how can this happen to me after all I've done for this company?!! What am I going to do now? I'm useless… this is a hopeless situation." Regardless of what would actually happen, Mike convinced himself of this worst case scenario. His self-limiting beliefs precluded the possibility of a successful outcome. The solution for Mike was to establish "truth-in-thinking." He needed to focus on the facts and avoid negative self-talk. His belief system, that is, the way he views certain events, is out of touch with reality. Mike believed that mergers are unpredictable, and uncontrollable, and therefore uncomfortable. Further, he believed that he'd been a good, loyal employee who shouldn't be subject to such an uncomfortable situation. His viewpoint was unrealistic though. The fact is, life is full of surprises. We never know what will happen next. Change is a fact of life, therefore, we will at times, experience discomfort in our lives. What's most problematic is that Mike "copped" an attitude that affected his performance.

No matter how smart or experienced, his negative attitude got in the way of objective, rational thinking. His negative beliefs affected his emotions, which affected his actions. Negative actions are always met with negative consequences. As a result, Mike was viewed as a discontented troublemaker and was not considered as a "player" in the future plans of the newly merged organization. There was hope though for Mike. I coached him to challenge his unrealistic beliefs by reorienting them in a more realistic, positive manner. In other words, he could establish "truth-in-thinking" by asking himself the following questions:

1) What do I find so upsetting about this particular situation?
2) Am I justified in feeling this way?
3) What are some other, more positive and constructive ways of viewing this situation?
4) How will a new perspective change the outcome of this situation?

I asked him to write his responses on a sheet of paper and honestly challenge his thought processes. He realized that he'd blown the situation out of proportion. He saw that there was no justification for feeling that his company was trying to make life miserable for him. He instead concluded that the merger represented an incredible opportunity to grow within the new organization and a chance to increase his earning potential. As a result, he replaced his anxiety with confidence, thereby increasing the likelihood for success. Once Mike had adjusted his thinking to be more rational and realistic, he was ready to rediscover and reactivate his "positive thinking traits."

The Ten Traits of Positive Thinkers

Positive Thinking is innate. This means that we all are born predominately positive. But for a variety of reasons we lose our positiveness and acquire negative attitudes and behaviors. In researching positive thinking, I identified ten specific traits characterizing a positive thinking person, clustering into four categories:

Centering Power
1) Belief
2) Integrity
3) Focus

Driving Power
4) Confidence
5) Courage
6) Determination

Uplifting Power
7) Enthusiasm
8) Optimism

Holding Power
9) Patience
10) Calmness

Each one of these traits, when leveraged properly in a given situation, produces powerful results. In most every case, when we fail to achieve our business goals and objectives it's not because we lack in the "smarts" department. Rather, it's usually due our inability to deal effectively with tough situations and people. For some of us, we lose hope when faced with increasingly tough situations. We simply give up. Others may lose their cool when dealing with difficult people, saying and doing things that destroy good working relationships. Some of us may lack confidence in ourselves, and/or others. I've seen good managers become impatient with challenging problems and then rush into temporary, quick fix solutions. Successful outcomes in business can be achieved by learning how to apply the ten traits to specific, challenging situations. Let's go back for a minute to our friend Mike. He had applied the "truth-in-thinking" principle to the merger situation and as a result, viewed the merger as an opportunity for professional growth instead of thinking doom and gloom. Next, I had Mike identify the traits he would need to see him through to success in the days ahead. He agreed that he would need to be much more "optimistic" to get through the uncertainty of the merger. This meant that he had to look and act in a hopeful, expectant manner. In addition, he certainly needed to have greater "confidence" in his own abilities.

The confidence he exuded would have tremendous impact on others. Lastly, he needed to be intensely "focused" and develop a plan to show how he would fit into the new organization. For several months, he "worked" his new attitude, and behaved in a manner consistent with it. Shortly after, I received a call from him. In half amazement, he told me that the acquiring company had offered him a position in their corporate headquarters; they were extremely impressed by the way he handled himself during the merger process which served as a role model for those around him. He accepted the job. Like Mike, we have all found ourselves in challenging, sometimes upsetting situations in the workplace. But we can take comfort in the fact that we are all endowed with the ten traits of a positive thinker and therefore have the ability to "call them up" when needed. The ten traits allow us to blow through obstacles, and challenges we encounter in a positive manner. When diligently applied, truth-in-thinking, combined with the ten traits of a positive thinker, will help us overcome the toughest of situations enabling us to perform like a champ.

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