Danger, Grace Staff, Danger! (negativity)

Danger #2 – NEGATIVITY

There is a lot to be excited about within our ministry here at Grace. But as a staff member, you also know that for every exciting thing, there are three negative things. Those who are not in the office day in and day out don’t see most of those negatives. We do a good job of not “hanging out our dirty laundry.” But we see it. We see the good (and there is much good). We see the bad (and there is even more bad). And we see the ugly (and the ugly usually consumes us).

I’ll be honest. Of all the dangers I am discussing in this series of blogs, this is the one that I think could harm us the most as a staff. We cannot let negativity begin to creep in to our attitudes. Just the thought of htat causes me to raise my arms up and down and yell, “Danger, Grace Staff, Danger!”

In his outstanding book, “The 17 Laws of Teamwork,” John Maxwell gives what he calls ‘The Law of the Bad Apple' which basically says that ‘rotten attitudes ruin a team.’ Good attitudes among players do not guarantee a team’s success, but bad attitudes guarantee its failure. Maxwell gives some truths about attitudes that affect a team

First, attitudes have the power to build up or tear down the team. Take a look at these addition equations:

Great talent + Rotten attitudes = Bad team
Great talent + Bad attitudes = Average team
Great talent + Average attitudes = Good team
Great talent + Good attitudes = Great team

Second, an attitude compounds when exposed to others. In fact, bad attitudes compound faster than good ones. The only thing worse than having one person on the team with a negative attitude would be having two people on the team with negative attitudes. Why? Because they will gravitate to each other and cause each other’s attitudes to grow in the intensity of their negativism.

Third, attitudes are subjective, so identifying a wrong one can be difficult. However, a negative attitude can often be identified by an inability to admit wrongdoing; failing to forgive; petty jealousy; the disease of me; a critical spirit; or a desire to hog all the credit.

The truth is that rotten attitudes, left alone, ruin everything. And lest you think that your carrying a negative attitude isn’t harmful, let me remind you that your attitude determines the team’s attitude. That is true for every single one of us. One negative attitude will ruin our team. My arms are waving up and down as you read this. “Warning, Grace Staff, Warning!” Let's never let a negative attitude ruin our team!