I'm going to start something here. People have always told me that I was born a leader and that I am excellent management material. While I don't exactly see eye-to-eye with people on that topic, I have no choice but to accept it.
On a daily basis, I hear people talk about how qualified they are to "run a business" (read: be a manager), when in fact they have no more qualifications than a newcomer to the working world. These qualifications are of utmost importance in determining the success of any leader, whether you're a manager, group leader, or just someone "stepping up to the plate" of a certain task.
In this first issue, I'm going to cover something that goes a long way: Attitude.
Attitude defines a person and their place in life. A poor attitude in the working environment shows that an individual might be irresponsible, unmotivated, or that they cannot be trusted to complete their assigned and implied duties that coincide with their employment. Likewise, a good, positive attitude will show employers that an individual is worthy of their job, that they take it seriously, and that it isn't perceived as burdensome.
The target of an attitude, whether negative or positive, should never be thought of as any single being, task, or event. Rather, the attitude that is being expressed to one's fellow workers, supervisors, or even the customers that may be dealt with on a daily basis, is to be uniform. Fellow workers should be treated with the same respect and friendliness as a paying customer; Supervisors should not be required to tolerate sarcasam and dissent that an employee may be "dishing out"; Customers should never be required to endure the comments that a quarrelsome employee might tell another, such as, "Do it yourself." Everyone within a business, regardless of which aspect in which they are involve, should be dealt with using a positive and servitude attitude.
Attitude towards assigned or implied duties is just as important as attitude towards fellow employees or customers. Employment consists of a single primary assigned task, which is accompanied by an infinite number of secondary tasks. The primary task might be something as mundane as flipping a hamburger on a grill, which is dependant on the secondary tasks, such as maintaining the cleanliness of the grill, disposal of any wastes, and keeping a full stock of hamburger. And for each secondary task, there will be further tasks, secondary to the secondary task itself (which is viewed as a primary task): These tasks are no less important than the original primary task, and must never be regarded as such. To do so, maintain a positive attitude towards the tasks. Don't grumble and complain when the floor needs to be mopped. Don't procrastinate and say that the trash can be disposed of tomorrow. Complete your duties when they are assigned, and do so with a smile.
As stated previously, attitude can go a long way, and as a result it can be a rather lengthy topic. In future issues, I may re-address this topic, but for now I am going to leave it as such.
If you have anything you would like to add, any comments, criticism, or would like to ask a question, feel free to do so in the comments.