Creating a Positive Attitude

Overview/Description

Oftentimes your success or failure depends not only on the situation you are in, but how you react to that situation. Your reaction to the situations you encounter is significantly influenced by your attitude. Having a positive attitude involves looking for the best in a situation, being realistic about possibilities and consequences, and having the courage to believe that you can succeed. It isn't always easy to be positive. You may feel that the odds are stacked against you, or you may find it hard to cope with the difficult and challenging situations that you find yourself in. Taking action to develop a positive attitude involves examining how you perceive your situation, and how you deal with your perception of the situation. This course will show you that it is possible to change your perspective from negative to positive, and provide you with skills for overcoming the challenges that you face at work. Being successful starts and ends with you, and having a positive attitude will help you achieve your desired success.

Target Audience

Employees who want to achieve a more positive outlook in the workplace

Objectives

Changing Your Perspective

• identify the benefits of changing perspective to deal with situations positively.
• distinguish among examples of internal and external loci of control.
• select responses that demonstrate a rational response to a sequence of events.
• match each positive frame with its corresponding example.

Changing Your Coping Skills

• recognize the benefits of changing coping skills to react positively to situations.
• apply the four techniques used to challenge negative thinking in a given situation.
• match categories of negative thinking with examples.
• react positively to criticism or feedback in a given situation.
• use assertiveness steps to overcome the negative impact of a given situation.

Creating a Positive Attitude
O	Becky has a reputation for reacting negatively to the things that happen to her. What benefits could Becky realize by changing her coping skills to react positively to situations?
	√	She could avoid overreacting by basing her reactions on fact
	√	She could use the feedback she receives to improve her performance
	√	She could establish boundaries so that she wouldn’t feel so frustrated.
O	Case Study : Mary is the chef for a large hotel, and you are the restaurant manager. You are both extremely busy, but Mary often assumes that you will be willing to change the menus and staff arrangements at short notice to help her to get out of fixes. You feel like you’re being taken advantage of, particularly because Mary is never prepared to be flexible when you have any special requests from clients. Question 1 : Your clients have asked for oysters, and they won’t compromise. Mary has known about this requirements for a long time, but she wants tp change the menu because preparing oysters is time consuming. You are furious. What will you say to Mary?
	√	Mary, the fact is that the client requested oysters when they made the booking six months ago. We have no option but to provide what they’ve asked for
	√	Mary, I can’t talk to you about this now. I’ll get back to you shortly.
	Question 2 : Mary tries to persuade you that if she takes time to prepare the oysters, then the main courses won’t be ready on time-and that will be your fault. How will you respond?
	√	As I see it, we’ve agreed on a menu and a price with the client and we have an obligation now. What can you do to make sure that we deliver?
	√	Maybe you could bring in additional staff to prepare the oysters so that the main course isn’t distrupted.
O	Case Study : You’ve been working in quality assurance for two years, and you’ve always done a good job. New guidelines have been introduced, and you’re having difficulty interpreting them effectively. Part of the problem is that you don’t agree with a lot of the changes, and so you’re finding it difficult to compromise. You have a meeting with your boss to discuss your recent performance. Question 1 : Your boss shows you a copy of one of your recent quality assurance reports, which has errors and omissions highlighted in red. She says there are many more problems that she’d expected. What are some ways you could agree with the truth of what your boss is saying?
	√	I can see you’ve highlighted a lot of issues—I apologize for missing so much.
	√	I’m sorry. I had no idea there were so many problems.
	√	There are a lot of problems with that report. I’m sorry.
	Question 2 : Your boss suggests that maybe your reports could be improved if you spent more time reading the quality assurance guidelines. You don’t agree with her suggestion because you feel that you know the guidelines well enough. What are some responses you could use to agree with her logic?
	√	It probably wouldn’t hurt to become more familiar with the new rules.
	√	I suppose that reading the guidelines again could be a good idea.
	Question 3 : Your boss is trying be supportive and wants to keep you motivated. She says, “I know things are difficult at the moment, but we’ve all got to work with the new guidelines, and you used to do much better.” What could you say to acknowledge improvement is possible?
	√	As I become more familiar with things, I’m sure I can do better.
	√	I would like to get back to my previous level.
O	Refarming is an effective way of looking for the positive in situations that might appear to be wholly negative. Match each positive frame with its corresponding example.
	Overall		To save time, Doug skipped a task that wouldn’t jeopardize the project’s success
	Team		Frank canceled his meeting so he could help colleagues input the data
	Learning		Colin decided to revise his forecasts to avoid going over budget in the future
	Negotiation		The client and the supplier discussed how they could resolve the problem
O	Case Study : You’re organizing your company picnic. You’re expecting over 500 people to attend, and you’ve decided on a barbecue with salads, dips, and ice cream for dessert. The arrangements have been difficult, and you’ve been making yourself feel bad by indulging in negative thinking. Question 1 : “If the carterers can’t get pistachio ice cream, the desserts will be awful. People only like pistachio ice cream—they’ll hate everything else.” How will you overcome your negative thinking by examining the evidence?
	√	What reason is there to think that the carterers won’t have pistachio ice cream? They said they could get it.
	√	Only a few of the people said they wanted pistachio ice cream—the rest didn’t seem to care either way.
	Question 2 : At the picnic, things go reasonably well, but you can’t help thinking, “I’m a complete failure. If I’d spent more time thinking about the barbecue and gotten root beer, things would have been better.” What will you say to yourself to challenge your negative thinking by befriending yourself?
	√	If I’d have come to the picnic and someone else had organized it, I wouldn’t be so critical
	√	If I’d asked for root beer and there wasn’t any I’d have asked for lemonade instead. I wouldn’t call the organizer a failure.
	Question 3 : As your colleagues leave the barbecue, one of your colleagues asks to speak with you. She says that she had a good time but, as a vegetarian, she felt you’d failed to take her needs into account. She explains that she’ll be telling the CEO how she feels so that next year’s barbecue is more successful. What will you say to challenge your negative thinking by putting things in context?
	√	Will anyone remember about the vegetarian fare tomorrow?
	√	So I’ll have to cater for vegetarians next year. That’s nor so bad.
	Question 4 : Two days later, you’re still feeling bad about the picnic. You wish you’d ordered more to drink and provided more than one flavor of ice cream. The CEO has come up to you and thanked you for doing such a great job, but you know he was just trying to be nice. How will you overcome your negative thoughts by looking for the positive?
	√	If I do this again, I’ll make sure to ask what everyone likes well in advance
	√	Next time I’ll know how to estimate the drinks more accurately
	√	Even if he was just being nice, it was great that the CEO noticed me
O	Can individuals influence what happens to them, or is destiny in control? The locus of control concept can be used to measure how individuals respond to this question. Match each locus of control to one or more of these examples.
	External locus of control		It’s not what you know in this job, it’s who you know.
			My boss doesn’t like me so I’ll never get promoted
			It doesn’t matter how well I plan; things always go wrong
	Internal locus of control		I made a mistake and I missed the deadline. I won’t let it happen again.
			Even though my boss doesn’t like me, if I work hard, I’ll get my promotion
O	Kristy was well prepared for her interview. She answered the questions easily, although the interviewer was surprised that Kristy enjoyed skydiving. Match the appropriate category of negative thinking to Kristy’s doubts.
	Focusing on the negative		Skydiving? Why did I have to say that? I should have said reading or walking.
	Overgeneralization and labeling		I can’t believe I messed up again. Why can’t I get anything right? I’m such a failure.
	Jumping to conclusions		They must think I’m crazy. They don’t want to employ someone so reckless.
	All or nothing thinking		There’s no way I’ve got a chance now. That’s it. I’ve blown it.
	Blame		I shouldn’t have practiced interviewing with Mom. It’s her fault; she thought of skydiving.
O	You have just found out that you haven’t been invited to one of your organization’s strategic planning meetings. You have attended all of these meetings in the past. Which of these are rational responses to this event?
	√	The meeting must be about a business area that isn’t relevant to mu expertise
	√	There may be something in my schedule that clashes with the meeting
	√	I’ve been missed from the circulation list for the meeting invitation
O	Harriet has a reputation for having a negative attitude. How could changing her perspective benefit Harriet in dealing positively with situations?
	√	She could take control of the events in her life
	√	She could find creative ways to cope with what happens to her
	√	She could make sure that her reactions are propotional to the situations she faces
O	Case Study : You are the senior editor for a men’s magazine. You have to review all of the articles that go into the magazine to make sure they’re appropriate, accurate, and well written. You also have to make sure that all the writers submit their manuscripts on time and that photo shoots are organized. You’ve had a bad few weeks, and you’ve been making yourself feel bad by indulging in negative thinking. Question 1 : You think yourself, “Rick is going to be furious. None of the photo shoots are organized, and the fashion articles aren’t right—I’ve picked up many errors. This is a complete disaster. The whole magazine is a mess.” What will you say to yourself to challenge your negative thoughts by examining the evidence?
	√	Just because there are issues with some articles doesn’t mean that everything will go wrong
	√	Like Justin said, the fact that the photo shoots aren’t booked is a problem, but it won’t stop everything else from going ahead
	√	If there are errors and I’ve picked them up now, that’s my job. It’s not a problem.
	Question 2 : “I’m such a failure. If only I’d kept ahead of the game, this wouldn’t have happened. Now the photos won’t be ready, the articles will be late, and it’ll be a disaster. Rick will fire me, and that’ll be the end of me.” What will you say to yourself to challenge your negative thinking by befriending yourself?
	√	If I were Rick, I wouldn’t fire someone over something like this
	√	Natalie had a similar problem last month, and we fixed it. We reassured her that it wasn’t her fault.
	Question 3 : Rick, your boss, wanted you to stay on budget. However, the proofs will arrive late and this could mean that the proofreaders will have to work the weekend to ensure the magazine is printed on time. What will you say to put things into context?
	√	Rick will be frustrated that the proofs are late, and he might give me a warning.
	√	Once the magazine has been printed, all of this will be forgotten.
	√	If the proofreaders have to work the weekend I’ll be over budget, but the magazine will be printed on time.
	Question 4 : A week later, the photo shoots have been done, the articles are correct, and the final proofs of the magazine have arrived—late. You’re still stressed because you think you could have handled things better. What will you say to overcome your negative self talk by looking for the positive?
	√	I did a great job of picking up the errors in the fashion article
	√	Next time I’ll be sure to get the photo shoots organized early
O	It can be easy to see the negative in every situation, but positive reframing can help you to avoid doing this. Match each positive frame with its corresponding example.
	Team		Janice adjusted her schedule so she could help Trevor finish his project
	Learning		Jake was relieved his mistake was found and made sure it didn’t happen again
	Negotiation		Faced with a schedule clash, Joe compromised by rescheduling his training
	Overall		Dave saw that the color of the prototype had no impact on the final product
O	Case Study : You are a ticketing sales supervisor for a large international airline. Recently, your company has ben using “mystery shoppers” to find out how well customers are being served at airline ticketing desks. Your boss wants to talk to you about the mystery shopper feedback he received about your team members. Question 1 : Your boss shows you the mystery shoppers’ feedback for your team. There are five reports of staff members being rude, and two cases where the customer was issued the wrong ticket. What are some ways you could agree with the truth of what your boss says?
	√	That’s not good enough—my team members shouldn’t be rude. I’m sorry.
	√	I apologize. This isn’t acceptable.
	Question 2 : Your boss says, “Maybe if your team members had regular customer service training, the mystery shoppers’ reports would improve. Maybe I could arrange a weekly briefing meeting. “You don’t like the idea very much. What responses could you make to agree with your boss’s logic?
	√	I can see how customer service training might improve things
	√	Weekly briefing meetings could be a positive way forward.
	Question 3 : Your boss is frustrated that the mystery shoppers’ feedback isn’t better, and tells you, “Things are going to have to improve or this is going to start affecting sales.” What could you say to acknowledge improvement is possible?
	√	It’s going to be difficult to get perfect scores, but we do need to do better than this.
	√	Mistakes will always happen, but they shouldn’t happen this frequently. I’ll try to come up with a solution
	√	You’re right. We shouldn’t have had five mystery shoppers saying staff members were rude.
O	Joe asked for feedback after giving a training session. Most people enjoyed this course, but one person made a sarcastic comment about his tie. Match the appropriate category of negative thinking to Joe’s thoughts.
	Focusing on the negative		It was pure chance that it went so well, but I can’t believe I wore that tie.
	Overgeneralization and labeling		This kind of thing always happens to me. What an idiot. Another day, another failure.
	All or nothing thinking		I don’t believe it. I’ve blown the whole day by wearing the wrong thing.
	Jumping to conclusions		They’ve gone away thinking, “who’s the idiot in the tie?” I won’t get my promotion now.
	Blame		I shouldn’t have trusted Marie. She said the tie was fine—it’s all her fault.
O	Case Study : You are an experienced financial control officer. Your supervisor often asks you to help out less experienced colleagues. You like to know that your skills are valued, but it has gotten to the point where the additional demands are having a negative impact on your performance. Question 1 : Your supervisor has just asked you to spend the morning with one of the junior control officers. You’re also angry because just five minutes earlier she asked you to redraft the reports created by the same junior officers. What will you say to your supervisor?
	√	Could we have a brief meeting in about half an hour? There’s something I’d like to discuss.
	√	I’m concerned that my work is beginning to suffer because of the amount of time I’m spending with the junior officers.
	Question 2 : You have explained to your supervisor that you are having difficulty meeting your own work commitments. Your supervisor tells you that someone as senior as you should be able to manage their workload more effectively. How will you respond?
	√	The difficulty is that I’m given little notice of the additional work, and so I don’t have time to prioritize
	√	Is there anything you can do to take some of the pressure off my schedule?
O	Herb isn’t popular at work because he is perceived as being miserable and always feeling sorry for himself. How could chaning his perspective benefit Herb in dealing positively with situations ?
	√	He would be able to take control of what happens to him
	√	He could respond creatively to the difficult situations he faces
	√	He wouldn’t continue to overreact to situations
O	Lou is perceived as being miserable and feeling sorry for himself because he isn’t very good at dealing with the negative things that happen to him. What benefits could Lou realize by changing his coping skills to react positively to situations?
	√	He could improve his performance
	√	He could avoid overreacting by basing his reactions on fact
	√	He could set boundaries to avoid feeling as if he is being taken advantage of
O	The locus, or center, of control concept is used to measure the extent to which individuals believe they can control events affecting team. Match these loci of control to one or more appropriate descriptions.
	Internal locus of control		If I make mistakes, then I suffer the consequences
			If I plan well, I’ll get the results I want
			When my boss made a decision that I didn’t like, I asked him to change his mind
	External locus of control		When my boss makes decisions I don’t like, I just have to live with them.
			Mistakes happen, it’s not my fault
O	You are an experienced editor working for an advertising agency. Recently the agency has won three small accounts and one major account. You have been nominated to act as editorial manager for the three small accounts. Which of these are rational responses to this allocation of work?
	√	They feel that my experience is better suited to the small accounts.
	√	They want me to take an active role in managing the smaller accounts
	√	They want to use my expertise on as many accounts as possible