I suppose I’ve always known the importance of attitude.
My attitude.
And the attitude of people inside teams I’ve built.
Attitude.
Attitude is part of that 3-sided thing isn’t it?
That 3-sided knowledge, skills and attitude thing.
Knowledge being what we know.
Skills being how well we apply what we know.
And attitude being how arsed we are.
That’s how I interpret the 3-sided knowledge, skills and attitude thing, anyway.
And my view on the ‘being arsed’ bit.
The attitude bit.
Is that attitude is much more important than the knowledge bit and the skills bit.
Because knowledge and skills are mostly taught.
Attitude isn’t.
At least, that’s what I thought until very recently.
And it was Fred Rogers that changed my mind.
Fred Rogers.
Fred Rogers.
Creator of Mr. Roger’s Neighbourhood.
Died in 2003.
Tom Hanks played him in the 2019 film.
‘A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood’.
And at first, I thought that Mr. Rogers agreed with me that attitude could not be taught.
And in a way he did.
But with a twist.
And here is that twist.
Because Mr Rogers said this about attitude:
It’s caught.
Not taught.
Fred Rogers said that by showing children how obsessed and how happy you are doing what you do.
They’d follow.
And I think there’s something about all leadership in this observation.
So I agree with Mr.Rogers completely.
The attitude of the people you lead.
It’s caught.
Not taught.
1 Comment
Your reference to skills and knowledge reminds me of something I think Naval Ravikant says. Can’t remember the exact quote, but it’s something like this…
‘If you rely on something that can be taught in school, than you will always be beat out by someone who has a more up to date education.’
Thanks for this post. It’s a good reminder that to maintain the right attitude, you need to surround yourself with the right people and simultaneously be a good example for those around you.