Leading with Positivity.

I read an article from the Harvard Business Review today and thought it was a good one to explore since it’s something I consciously try to do, every single day. It’s not always easy, but I try. It was titled “The Best Leaders Have a Contagious Positive Energy.” In true HBR fashion, it’s way too long to even try to give the CliffsNotes version, but the moral of their story can be summed up with this quote:

“The greatest predictor of success for leaders is not their charisma, influence, or power. It is not personality, attractiveness, or innovative genius. The one thing that supersedes all these factors is positive relational energy: the energy exchanged between people that helps uplift, enthuse, and renew them… the result - extraordinary performance.”

But before we tackle the topic of positivity in the workplace, let’s rewind fifteen years and talk about why this is such an important aspect of my professional personality.

Early in my career, as a wee little 22-year-old lass, I was a Media Buyer at an advertising agency in Sacramento, California. Something we regularly did was meet with media vendors who were shamelessly trying to convince us to buy whatever it was they are selling, whether it was television commercials, a billboard on the side of the freeway, or a black and white ad in this Sunday’s edition of the Sacramento Bee.

One day I was sitting in a meeting with a print media vendor who was educating us on the newest product he was selling. (A boring digital ad on a no-name website, BTW. Snooze.) When it came time to talk about pricing, he turns to me and without hesitation says “It’s time for you to leave the room and let the grown ups handle the business.” I’m sorry, what? And just like that, without even realizing it, he took a chisel and carved a boulder-sized chip out of my shoulder. How dare you. Do you not realize how this works? I control the money in this situation. I have the power to either include you, or not include you, in my media buy.

Guess who never got my money. Sorry old man, you fucked with the wrong 22-year-old.

From that day forward, it’s pretty safe to say that I immediately trampled on anyone I professionally encountered who made me feel less-than, specifically because of my age or god forbid, my gender. I constantly puffed my chest out, used a stern voice and often almost dared someone to cross me.

As I progressed through my career and climbed the ladder over the next fifteen years, I was often the youngest person in the room. Inevitably, this made the chip on my shoulder put me on high alert for any sign of danger. An unfortunate result of this nonstop agitation, was the damage I was doing to my reputation. Cynical, cranky, easily riled up and relatively volatile at times. Uh oh, Lea, time to get that under control.

Because news flash. I ain’t the youngest person in the room anymore. Time to grow up and lean into my new role. I’m a big(ger) boss now. The absolute best opportunity I have in this new job at this new company in this new city is the opportunity to reinvent myself. To remember that I haven’t erupted on a random Tuesday for little to no reason. To remind myself daily that no one here has seen me cry at work because I’m furious about whatever drama is happening in my office that day. To think about all of the valuable knowledge I bring to the table. To use the experiences of my past and shape my future. To check my negativity at the door and just be one thing. Positive.

Now back to the HBR article.

Positivity cultivates a dozen (or more!) outcomes in an organization. My two personal faves - kindness and gratitude. Basically being nice and saying thank you. Gee whiz, what a foreign concept.

I have eight men and women who currently report directly into me. My hope is that I can give them many things, but if I give them only one thing, I hope I give them positivity. I truly believe, and there is definitely data that reinforces, that a positive leader and a positive workplace will result in stronger teamwork, higher job satisfaction and better performance. I start meetings with a smile, some chit chat and let’s be honest, probably a joke or two. They need to know that it’s okay to laugh. It’s okay to be optimistic. And it’s okay to take the tough days with a grain of salt.

Yes, I feed them Mexican food. Yes, I pour them wine and margaritas. Yes, I spend my own money to buy a white board, an easel and white board markers so we can sit in my living room and play Pictionary, laughing and talking shit the entire time. Are those brazen attempts to get them to like me? Maybe. I can’t help it, I’m still human.

But, that fun happens when we are outside of the four walls of our office building. It’s much easier to take a deep breathe and slap a smile on your face when you’re not thinking about your to-do list, or wondering why the lazy guy in accounting hasn’t responded to your email. Unfortunately, the minute you walk back into that building, it’s easy to get sucked into the vortex of negativity. Someone is whining because they have too much on their plate. Someone else is pissed because they were asked to attend a meeting that could have been an email. God you people are exhausting. Sigh.

My ask to everyone I work with is this - remember to assume positive intent. More often than not, no one is purposefully trying to screw you or make your life harder. We should all be moving in the same direction to accomplish the same goals. How’s that for a positive attitude?

I’ve repeated this about 216 times lately. What we are doing is not that serious. It’s not brain surgery or rocket science. No one is going to die, or solve global warming. We’re in advertising and last time I checked, that was supposed to be fun.

For me, being positive is relatively simple. It’s not about sitting in a circle and singing the company song. It’s not about doodling “I heart [insert company name]” on your notebook. It’s as easy as this - put a smile on your face and the good vibes will follow. And those good vibes feel a hell of a lot better than it feels to be convinced that everyone is out to get you. Talk about negative energy. Woof. You’re sorely mistaken if you think your coworkers, peers and team members don’t feel that energy. They feel it, they resent it and it makes them think one thing about you -

kick rocks Mr. Negativity; you ain’t gotta go home, but you can’t stay here.

https://hbr.org/2022/04/the-best-leaders-have-a-contagious-positive-energy