Pro-active, Positive and Responsible

Pro-active, Positive and Responsible – it’s all about having a positive thinking attitude? You are in control. Or are you?

Positive Thinking

I learned this from John Fitzgerald, author, motivator, mentor, property developer and philanthropist. He is someone that inspires me and I have learned so much from; a role model I aspire to emulate many aspects of.

He often speaks of your base attitude towards anything you do needing to be pro-active, positive and responsible.

I consider an attitude of being pro-active, positive and responsible a primary aspect of living and working life “at cause”. It is a base attitude that underlies the approach, thinking and behaviour of most successful people.

Positive Thinking by being Pro-Active

Pro-activity is akin to the “fetch” attitude I referred to in an earlier blog. It implies that we don’t wait and see what happens, we make it happen. We take the initiative towards making something we want to happen, happen.

I like to think and plan in scenarios. I like to ask “what’s the worst that can happen” on the one end of the scale and “what could the best possible outcome be” on the other end of the scale. Then I like to ask myself what the many different scenarios could be between those points. Once collected, it is like risk management, where it is important to assess the “likelihood” of each scenario manifesting and the possible obstacles, opportunities or possible outcomes each creates.

In business, a much used mantra is that of “no surprises”. Management, boards, steering committees, shareholders, analysts – most stakeholders don’t like being surprised by bad news. A pro-active attitude considers that and works to have thought about that as much as possible before “it can happen” and be prepared to mitigate what can be.

Positive Thinking by being Positive

I don’t think I need to dwell on the need for a positive and “can do” attitude rather than having a “negative” one, do I? To me that is just a universal behaviour axiom – a self evident truth. I am not talking here of seeing everything through “rose coloured glasses” and I am talking about favoring to look for the positive rather than be distracted by the negative. You know the glass half full or glass half empty cliché?  Why is it that we speak of 5% unemployed when there are actually 95% employed? We have already spoken  of “what you focus on is what you get” in a previous blog and that this starts with a positive outlook on and attitude towards anything and everything we do. Being a “good finder”.

Positive Thinking by being Responsible

Having a responsible attitude is a choice – a decision. Notwithstanding the power of the art of successful delegation, “if it’s going to be, it’s up to me” is taking responsibility for who you are and the outcomes you seek in your own hands. Again it is akin to the “fetch” attitude outlined above. It does not wait for others to “bring” or initiate something, nor does it entertain “blaming” someone or something else when it doesn’t work.

I once heard a wonderful cliché around the words of “difficult” and “possible”:

• Pro-active, positive and responsible people say “it might be difficult, but it’s possible”.

• Others say “it might be possible, but it’s too difficult”.

You will know which category you fit into, if you acknowledge my 11^th commandment: “thou shalt not kid thyself”.