Tip 666: Leaders Set the Tone

From the Leadership Workshops: Leaders Set the Tone 

Dr. Viktor Frankl survived four Nazi concentration camps but lost his mother, father, brother, wife, and unborn child. 

After the war, he reflected and wrote that the last of the human freedoms was the freedom to choose one's own attitude “in any given set of circumstances.” (Man’s Search for Meaning, 104). 

Choose one's own attitude. 

In any given set of circumstances. 

So if we’re grumpy, we’ve chosen to be grumpy. 

If we’re angry, we’ve chosen to be angry. 

And if we’re positive, enthusiastic, and encouraging, we’ve chosen that course as well. 

As Leaders

Leaders lead the way (and any one of us can be a leader). Leaders set the tone.

As we pass someone in the hall (no matter who they are, old friend, distant associate, perfect stranger), we can make eye contact, smile, and say, “Good morning! It’s a beautiful day!”

As we meet with our teams, we can be enthusiastic, nod, and say, “We can do this, and we can do it well.”

Choose to be positive. Choose to demonstrate that positive attitude.   

Attitudes—especially from leaders—are contagious. But both positive and negative attitudes are contagious, so we must be positive. 

We love this stuff. 

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” (Dr. Viktor Frankl)

“Yes, I think to myself, ‘What a wonderful world.’ Oh, yeah.” (Louie Armstrong)