Eliminate the High Cost of Low Attitudes at Work

Might you have a serious problem in your team, department or whole organization?

• Are good employees protected from bullies, negative complainers, toxic coworkers, subtle manipulators, nitpicking control freaks, rule-floggers, gossips, passive-aggressive stalkers, energy vampires, meeting disruptors, demanders, meddlers, micromanagers, critics,  conflict-avoidant managers, “professional victims,” Drama Queens, or jerks?
• Are you wasting your time and effort to understand and rehabilitate splinters, rotten apples and cancers – at all levels in your company?

In this 3 CD set, “How to Eliminate the High Cost of Low Attitudes,” complete with workbook, designed for managers at all levels, you’ll learn:

• Why good, well-meaning people fail to establish high standards of professional behavior, and how organizations participate in begging, bribery and appeasement of low attitude staff at all levels.
• How to recognize covert, sneaky, stealthy, backstabbing, manipulative bullies and their cliques.
• The true cost of negativity, emotional sabotage, poor customer service and low attitudes in your workplace and on your personal life.
• How to make attitudes and professional behavior as important as deliverables.
• The importance of the 990/10 rule and why not to “counsel” a problem employee.
• How to weed out determined bullies and predators, and turn around a culture of entitlement.
• Methods to protect your personal ecology from abuse, harassment and bullying behavior, and create and maintain team ground rules.
• Why you can’t stop bullying with employee satisfaction surveys.
• How the right discipline increases morale and team performance.

What’s the cost of accepting low attitudes?  Slow erosion of your soul!

Gain the courage and skills to handle the tough situations you encounter legally and do what you need to do as a leader.

Order “How to Eliminate the High Cost of Low Attitudes,” by itself or as part of the Professional Life Bundle from this web site and get fastest delivery.

All tactics are situational.  In addition to these guidelines, expert coaching and consulting can help you create and implement a plan that fits you and your organization.

Stop Workplace Moaning, Groaning, Whining and Negativity

In this recession, lots of specific problems crop up that we moan and groan about.  But habitual whiners and complainers want us to wallow in their negativity even in the best of times.  In her article in the Financial Times, “Office moaners are something to groan about,” Emma Jacobs points out that habitual complainers can demoralize and depress any office. The skill to critically foresee potential problems and try to solve them is totally different from an endless stream of hostility, negativity and victim-talk.  Of course, good managers pay attention to comments from productive staff.

While occasional griping is a natural part of our lives, a Grump’s steady stream of bad attitudes coupled with attempts to prove that we should all feel as bad as he does, rapidly convert our sympathy into anger.

Negativity also promotes workplace divisiveness.  Moaners ostracize anyone who won’t join in and their continued focus on what’s unfair or wrong leads co-workers to focus also on what’s wrong at work instead of finding solutions or staying productive.

Although most people moan and groan for a while in response to specific situations, typically, you’ll encounter three types of habitual moaners:

1. People who routinely feel discouraged, depressed and victimized, and just want to whine endlessly about how hard life is.
2. Co-workers who batter you with their views about how bad the world or the company is.  You have to agree or you just don’t understand (“you fool”) or you’re one of the “oppressors.”
3. Bullies who use moaning to take control and power.

The last category is sometimes surprising.  How can someone so victimized, negative and wimpy be a successful bully?

Moaning, complaining stealth bullies gain power and control when:

• Well meaning people sympathize, agree and join their crusades.
• Co-workers spend hours giving them sympathy instead of working.
• Managers and co-workers start walking on egg shells around complaining bullies in order to make them feel good or from fear that their supporters will gang up on you because you hurt their feelings.

Behind this stealth bullying is the moaning bullies’ desire to control what correct behavior should be (“Those rotten people should do …) and their rules for how we should respond to what they see as major injustices.

So what can you do?

1. Don’t hang out with negative people.  Leave the break room or sweetly remove them from your cubicle or office while saying, “I have too much to do right now” and turn to do it, or “I have so many deadlines, would you do this for me” and give them a simple task.
2. Don’t debate with them.  They don’t want to change their minds.  Notice that if you win one debate, they rapidly come up with something else to moan about.  Their goal is to moan, not solve problems.
3. Individually stand on your own ground.  You might say, “You’re right but that’s not important enough to waste much time on,” or “you’re right but that’s part of life so I don’t get upset about it,” or “you’re right but that’s too big for me to do anything about at this moment so I’d rather focus on the things that lift my spirit and energy.”
4. At a workshop someone suggested what’s become my favorite.  With a straight face say, “My therapist says I can’t have any discouraging talk for seven days straight, so do you have any happy or uplifting things to tell me?”  This has worked every time.
5. On your team, make team agreements or “Behavioral Ground Rules” against moaning, groaning, negativity or gossip.  Call it like it is.  Some teams even have “No Moaning” signs at their meetings.

Of course, we sympathize and support someone who is in a painful situation and needs a pick-me-up.  But don’t throw your sympathy into a bottomless bucket.  You’re not being paid to be anyone’s therapist and your organization is probably not a therapeutic environment for employees.

Of course the same could be said about whiners, moaners and complainers at home.  They’ll drag your energy down if you let them.  As Henry Adams said, “Even the gayest of tempers succumbs at last to constant friction.”  In your personal life, give whining complainers a chance to change or vote them off your island.

Don’t try to make all your employees happy

Don’t try to make all your employees happy.  But do make your best employees happy. Do you recognize who the best employees and managers are?

We can’t define who the best are, but we all recognize them.  They’re the ones with inspiration – the inner drive to accomplish things and succeed.  At all levels, they’re superstars and solid, steady, productive professionals.  They’re the beavers eager to learn, develop skills and be competent and productive.  They want to be efficient and effective.  They take responsibility and they care.

They’re the ones who anchor a culture of success.  They keep communication channels open and they get along well enough with other productive individuals in order to make their teams succeed.  They take care of customers and teammates.  They partner with employees on other teams when success depends on joint effort.  They’re the low-maintenance people we can count on.l

It’s a pleasure to make them happy.  They appreciate your efforts and respond with more of their own.

You can generalize by thinking that your organization has about 15% stars and 75% solid producers – all in that group of high quality employees you want to keep happy.

The other 15% are the problem adults.  They’re the whining complainers, hyper-critical bosses, lazy slackers, negative discouragers, backstabbing rumormongers and gossips, know-it-all squelchers, micro-managing nit-pickers and turf-protecting power brokers – to name only a few.  They’re unproductive, but always have excuses they think justify their unprofessional behavior.  They create hostile workplaces.  They’re energy vampires – they can suck the life out of any effort.  No matter how much you give them, it’s never enough.  They’re not grateful and they don’t give back.  They demand or connive to get more.

Don’t try to make them happy.  It’s an impossible task.  You’d have to cater to them and give away your organization to them.  Instead, good leaders and managers help them go somewhere else.  Maybe they’ll be happy at another company or maybe you can get them a job in a competitor’s organization.

Give your time, energy and goodies to your high quality employees.  How?  You don’t need my top 10 list to get started making your best employees happy.  Maximize their chances for success.  Give them all the training, equipment, operating systems and support they need to succeed.  To high quality people, accomplishment is an aphrodisiac.  Beyond that – ask them.  Every individual will have an individual list of desires – training, opportunities for advancement, cleansing their environment of losers, more flex-time and money, etc.  Then do your best to give it to them.

What if there’s more than 15% bottom feeders at your company, and management doesn’t care?  Be one of the best employees.  Try to get the attention of leaders.  If that doesn’t work, go be a best employee at your competitor’s company.