Will You Be Home? Part III  Attitude and Family Support

By Julie Adamen

In the past two issues we have been discussing the ability to recognize and act upon opportunity as it presents itself. So far, we have discussed:

• Professional Development Education, Experience and Contacts
• Professional Fortitude Courage and Confidence (Feb. 2004)
• Personal Fortitude Having your Personal Life in Order
• Flexibility Professional and Personal (Mar. 2004)

The remaining building blocks are Attitude and Family Support.

As we had said in the past months, each of these six elements is intricately intertwined with the other. One leads to another, then to another - then back around again. Attitude - how you view yourself and the world around you is the glue that binds all the other elements together.

Attitude: A state of mind or a feeling; disposition: had a positive attitude about work. [1]

Attitude and Recognizing Opportunity.

How do you perceive the world around you? Frightening? Overwhelming? Awful? From bad to worse? You gotta raw deal? No one appreciates you? Nobody loves you?  Well, Charlie Brown, if that's the case, you really ARE a blockhead. Because not only are you missing out on a lot of what life has to give in generally, you are missing out on opportunities right and left. 

It goes without saying that a positive attitude is required to truly succeed and find satisfaction in your career. This doesn't mean walking around with a big silly grin on your face, thinking everything is fabulous at all times, that all events are great and that you will never be unhappy or depressed. That's plain unrealistic. People who have a  positive outlook understand there are bumps in the road, but they focus on what's right and what's good and continually move forward.   To use an old cliché, they choose to see the glass as half full. Here are some of their most endearing (and effective) traits:

Positive People Have a Sense of Discovery. Think about being a kid again. There was a whole laundry list of things you just couldn't wait for. Things like Christmas, the end of school, the beginning of school, ski season, Halloween, going camping, boating, for the fair to start, to go to Disneyland or Six Flags. Remember that sense of anticipation? How you could hardly sleep at night?

As adults, we have a tendency stop looking forward to each event, each day, each challenge, (!!) especially in our jobs. Soon we find ourselves looking only forward to cocktail time, bedtime, or retirement (and not necessarily in that order).   But if you look around you, the most successful and fulfilled people you find are ones who don't dread their jobs, who actually like the work they do, enjoy the people they meet and look forward to what's coming next. To many people, that is just about impossible to fathom! But if you always want to see what is around the corner - what's coming next, who's going to walk in, or what's the next big thing; you still have maintained that sense of discovery. Without that positive outlook, that sense of discovery attitude, how can you possibly see an opportunity?

Positive People Have a "Service" State of Mind.    "How can I help?" That's the service attitude. Positive people help when and where they can. They become mentors and trainers, they answer questions from colleagues, share ideas and worked towards a larger good. They don't keep their employees or staff from attending industry events. They understand that money is well spent on education, whether it's their own or someone else's. Positive people see that the more experiences they have, the better they are. They see that the more they give to their profession, the more they get back and the more they give back, the more opportunity will come their way.

Positive People are usually the first ones to recognize opportunity, because they see possibility where others see problems. They see possibility because they have focused on all the things that go right, not the few that go wrong. They maintain a sense of discovery, and are always waiting for the next thing coming down the road with anticipation, as opposed to a sense of dread. And people with a positive outlook are always giving back to their profession in one way or another, because they understand that the more they give, the more opportunity comes their way. And guess what? They have a blast doing it. For these reasons, positive people are able to spy opportunity in lots of places.  People who are able to recognize and act upon opportunity are almost always Positive People.

Family Support.

You know when you have Family Support, and you know it when you don't. You know that when your spouse or kids or friends cheer you on, you feel better, work better, perform better.  You are lifted up.

Unfortunately, many people have less than ideal family situations and find themselves with little positive support and input from their families or friends. I'm not going to speak in depth to this complicated subject, that's for Dr. Phil and legions of others. But I am going to say that if your family situation is less than ideal, you must either fix the situation (if you are able) by seeking professional help or recognize that it will limit your ability to recognize, and especially act upon, opportunity.  Family Support, and the support of your friends, is more than the icing on the cake when it comes to being professionally upwardly mobile.  It's the icing and the glass (half full!) of ice-cold milk. And it's double-double chocolate icing. That's how good family support and the support of your friends is when it comes to being able to recognize, and especially act upon, opportunity. 

 The Wrap Up. 

In my experience, I have noted it takes certain key building blocks to be in place in order to recognize and act upon opportunity. These building blocks are:

• Professional Development
• Professional Fortitude
• Personal Fortitude
• Flexibility
• Attitude
• Family Support

Procuring and maintaining these five crucial elements are not some stroke of timing and luck that are bestowed upon a fortunate few. They are achieved, many times over years, through a lot of hard work and determination. You may ask yourself, is it worth it? Is it worth it to spend so much thought and energy to achieve success in an industry which for the most part seems to turn a blind eye to the hard work and sacrifice of it's professional administrators?  My answer to that is a resounding YES, because this industry abounds with opportunity. Our industry is one of the few that is not ageist, racist or sexist. You can have street smarts or an MBA and do just as well as long as you have the basic skill set required (people skills being the top priority). You can stay in management, or you can work for one of our diverse cache of service providers. You can develop your entrepreneurial streak and start your own business.  You can make $30,000 per year - or $130,000 per year - your choice. But only if you are able to recognize and act upon opportunity as it presents itself.

And - oh yeah - this business never boring.