New recruiters will often hear the phrase ‘positivity breeds success‘. But why is this quality so important, and how exactly does it help us at work? We take a look at this fascinating – and hugely powerful – quality, and the reasons for fostering it:
It is infectious:
When you feel positive and optimistic, it shines from you. People with great personalities and charisma are invariably positive people. By feeling good themselves, they naturally want others to feel good too, and will often go out of their way to help others to achieve their goals. When you think about it, a recruiter’s role is to support the client to achieve their recruitment goals – so the right attitude is key to selling your service, and making it compelling to potential leads.
It rubs off on others:
Positivity will help your colleagues and co-workers to feel better too, as they will take inspiration from your attitude and approach. This will be greatly valued by your managers and leadership team, as they see the powerful and supportive role that you play within the business.
It makes you stand out – for the right reasons:
Walk into a room with a big smile and the attitude that you are there to do a great service, help others and deliver, and you will instantly attract others to you. That energy, that positivity and a proactive approach generates, is highly compelling. Think about someone you know that radiates optimism, and compare them to someone you know that is pessimistic and negative. Who will you naturally go and speak to in a gathering?
It boosts your mood:
Our thoughts drive our emotions, and the power of positivity is that, by simply thinking about good things, we can greatly improve our moods, thoughts and actions. Remember, thoughts drive emotions – and thoughts also drive our actions. If we are thinking in the right way, we will act in the right way. Positive thinking expands our boundaries and sense of confidence and self. When we feel positive, we will naturally challenge ourselves to try out new things or take ‘good’ risks.
It boosts your creativity:
Positive thinking is naturally creative, mainly because it helps you to relax, feel good and think expansively about ways to tackle problems and opportunities, rather than convincing yourself that innovation or risk taking is fruitless, and that you are doomed from the start! That position of calm and openness can really help your creative juices to flow!
It helps you build relationships and draws others to you:
Most of the favourite people in our personal and professional lives tend to have a sparkle about them. They will focus on the good, look for the best in situations, and be generally optimistic and happy. These people draw others towards them with their positive energy, and by fostering a similar approach, you can develop equal successes in your relationships. Remember, positivity is contagious, and the more you practice it and tweak your way of thinking towards optimism, the greater the results.
It helps you to tackle difficult situations in the right way:
There are very few truly ‘right or wrong’ situations, in the way that there are few truly or entirely good or bad situations. The way we view something depends on our outlook and perspective. If you can find something good or positive in a difficult situation, you have cracked the secret to developing and learning as an individual. Only by reflecting on lessons learned, and then changing your approach, do you develop. Simply mulling over a bad outcome and doing nothing about it, will leave you stuck in your current position. Again, line up your thoughts in the right way, and the actions will flow. Another great tip is to view a difficult situation from the other person’s perspective, to gain insight and understanding about their position. This helps you to moderate your approach, and dissipates anger when you don’t get your own way. Learning techniques such as compromise and negotiation is also valuable, as is reflecting on the situation afterwards, and discussing alternative approaches it with an experienced mentor.
It helps you to achieve your goals:
For anyone who has ever read ‘The Secret’, the allure of positive and goal-oriented thinking is clear. The theory holds that like attracts like, so that positive thinking and focusing on your goals and the good things in life, will attract these to you. Likewise, focusing on bad situations and negative scenarios can attract those things towards you to – which is why people that we perceive as being lucky, are invariably optimistic and ‘glass half full’ people.
Positivity breeds the right behaviours:
Positive people will be the ones coming into work early with a smile on their face, enjoying conversation with their colleagues and looking forward to the day, before proactively cold calling, working on their social media presence, booking a full diary and generally making sure they get the most from each day, rather than thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Their attitude makes them bold and successful, simply because it removes fear and inertia. Positivity is always an active trait, and it engenders energy. Welcome it into your life, and you will constantly feel the benefits!
Author: Satnam Brar is Managing Director of Maximus IT, an Oracle Gold Partner which specialises in recruitment in the ERP, CRM & Database sectors, specifically ORACLE, MS Dynamics, Salesforce.com and SAP.
