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“It’s important to help your team remember that there’s always an opportunity for improvement. Positive communicators encourage and inspire others to do more and become more than they ever thought possible … ”


Jon Gordon


NEGATIVE LEADERS become even more negative and turn volatile and hopeless.


POSITIVE LEADERS lead with faith instead of fear.


During the Great Recession, as the


SCENARIO 2: A salesman consistently misses goals and makes excuses.


NEGATIVE LEADERS complain and blame.


POSITIVE LEADERS identify opportunities.


“It’s important to help your team


remember that there’s always an opportunity for improvement,” says Gordon. “Positive communicators encourage and inspire others to do more and become more than they ever thought possible. Positive leaders are great encouragers, and it’s something the world needs more of. With so many people telling us we can’t succeed, we need to hear people telling us we can.


“Anyone pursuing anything worthwhile


will fail and fail often,” he adds. “I certainly have failed many times, but when I look back, I realize I wasn’t failing; I was growing. I learned that you can dwell on the past or look forward to making the next opportunity great. You can see life as a game of failure or opportunity. It’s all in how you see it.”


SCENARIO 3: Your employee has a history of being rude to customers.


NEGATIVE LEADERS fire offending employees right away.


POSITIVE LEADERS first seek to transform them.


Martin, a leader with the company


Seventh Generation, told me that he put a sign on his door that read,


“Energy vampires welcome. Expect to be transformed.” Employees who act out on the job are energy vampires. Te first step in dealing with an energy vampire on your team is not to remove but to transform. No one really wants to be an energy vampire. Tese people are likely negative for a reason. Te first steps should always be to listen with empathy and love, and try to understand and transform.


28 FAL L 2 017 “I have found that the best way to


deal with energy vampires in your organization is at the culture level, where you set the expectation that people who drain the energy of others will not be tolerated,” says Gordon. “You talk about the negative impact of negativity. You explain that one person can’t make a team but one person can break a team. You talk about what a great culture looks like and how you want everyone to be a positive contributor to it.”


SCENARIO 4: An employee shows values inconsistent with company culture (shows a lack of transparency, overpromises on deliveries, stirs up drama with colleagues, etc.).


NEGATIVE LEADERS overlook inconsistencies and move on to other problems.


POSITIVE LEADERS show love and accountability companywide.


Former CEO Alan Mulally turned


around Ford with both love and accountability. He believed you should love your people, but you must make sure you hold your team accountable to the plan, the process, the principles and the values of the culture.


“Mulally had a zero-tolerance policy for violating the process,” says Gordon.


“Tis is how positive leaders should approach dealing with inconsistencies in organizations. If someone violates the process and you don’t address it, then everyone knows you aren’t committed to it. But when you love people and hold them accountable, it’s amazing how fast things can move in the right direction. And if you’re failing in some way, you won’t be ostracized, but rather you will find the support you need to succeed.”


SCENARIO 5: Your company is falling on hard times, and everyone is worried about their job.


rest of the country was going through the downturn, the people who led and worked for the companies in Silicon Valley refused to participate in the recession. Tey were too busy trying to change the world. Tey were surrounded by a bubble of optimism.


“Ultimately, being a positive leader is


all about leading with faith in a world filled with cynicism, negativity and fear,” says Gordon. “Te ultimate battle we face every day is the battle between faith and fear. As a leader, you must realize that your people are facing this battle daily. Tey are filled with fear, doubt and uncertainty, and it’s your job to inspire them with faith. Leading with optimism, positivity and belief comes down to leading with faith instead of fear.”


“Negativity routinely drains energy


and sabotages talented teams,” concludes Gordon. “But leaders are optimally positioned to combat negativity and pessimism at every level of their company. As quickly as systemic pessimism poisons a group of people, relentless optimism is guaranteed to change the destructive negative dynamics and transform your culture. It’s truly up to you. Focus on the positive in all situations and see the remarkable difference it makes.”


Jon Gordon’s best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous NFL, NBA and MLB coaches and teams, Fortune 500 companies, school districts, hospitals and non-profits. He and his tips have been featured on “TODAY,” CNN, CNBC, The Golf Channel, “Fox and Friends,” and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Falcons, Campbell’s Soup, Dell, Publix, Southwest Airlines and more. For information, visit jongordon.com.


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