Attitude is Everything

Posters proclaim this truth… speakers give seminars and keynote addresses on this very subject… even my coffee mug says it, “Attitude is Everything.” and as much as I love my coffee, it just ain’t so!

If I wear my NLP (neuro linguistic programming) hat, I focus on the word “everything.” Words like everything, always, everyone, nobody, never, are a reason to question the statement. Here’s a couple examples: “No one likes me.” Response: “No one?” “Everybody loves baseball.” Response: “Everybody?” “All big business is ruthless.” Response: “All of them?” I think you get the idea. So when I read, hear, or see “Attitude is everything”, it begs the question, “everything?”

Would you want an untrained yet highly positive and enthusiastic lawyer representing you in a criminal trial? Would you want a sympathetic, warm, friendly, podiatrist performing your quadruple bypass surgery? Of course not. So training must be part of the equation, agreed?

Is it safe then to say that to succeed in a career – training and attitude are everything?

When I put my “instinct coach” hat on, I notice the words “attitude and training.”

No, training and attitude are not everything. With training and attitude, we still only have two thirds of the mind accounted for. And I think you’ll agree, you want all of someone’s mind if you are hiring them – and you want all of your mind engaged in your job. Training is part of the cognitive mind where your skills, knowledge and learning reside. Attitude is part of your affective mind where you will also find your desires, emotions and wants.

The third part of your mind is your conative mind – your striving instincts, how you solve problems. Here we find what you will do or won’t do when left to do things your way, or when you are under pressure to perform. Your conative mind drives the other parts. All three are equally important. All three combine to create you. The important distinction about your conative mind is that it cannot be measured with IQ or skill-based tests (they measure cognition). And it can not be measured with DISC, Meyers-Briggs, or any other affective/emotional/personality inventories on the market. Amazingly, your conative mind does not change like your affective and cognitive mind does. You are born with a certain conative make up. It is what it is and it does not change. That being said, know that your striving instincts drive the other parts of your mind when you problem solve.

There are four modes to your conative mind, together they comprise your MO (method of operation). These four parts are:

Fact Finder: How you gather and share information
Follow Thru: How you arrange and design
Quick Start:  How you deal with risks and uncertainty
Implementor:  How you handle space and tangibles

This model comes form the world’s leading researcher in conation Kathy Kolbe of Kolbe Corporation, right here in Phoenix, AZ. For over thirty years, Kolbe Corp. has been helping individuals and companies excel by teaching them how to work with their natural strengths and talents instead of trying to go against the grain.

Let me give you an example of how conation can affect your performance. Each mode is measured on a scale of 1 – 10, think of it as resistant in the mode or initiating in that mode. Someone who is resistant Fact Finder (1-3) needs very little information to take action – they bottom line things where an initiating Fact Finder (8-10) needs to do extensive research before making a move. Let’s say you are resistant on Follow Thru; you create shortcuts, thrive on interruptions, leave things open ended and switch tasks frequently. Your job may require intensive systemization and closure on one project at a time or you may be required to utilize detailed time-management systems and do lots of back-office record keeping. Guess what… you are frustrated. Your energy is sucked out of you as you try to comply with systems that are completely unnatural to you. You are the person who has done the “time management” seminars so often that you could teach them – but you simply will not use the system! You rely instead on your time-tested piles of stuff.

If you are looking for a job knowing this about yourself can help you:
• Create a cover letter and resume that really describes you
• Ask important and probing questions about the position to know if it is a match for you
• To review a job description and measure against what your natural talents are, rather than just considering whether you’d like to do it or if you have the intellect to do it.
• Focus your job search in fields that match your instinctive make up – after all, your striving instincts will not change. Doesn’t it make sense to look for the job that matches you?

If you are hiring, knowing the conative description of the job you want to fill allows you to:
• Write ads that will appeal to the striving instincts of the person who will match the job
• Spend your valuable time interviewing only people who are conatively matched and have the skill-base and resume experience for the job
• Narrow your pool to better-suited candidates
• Keep your emotions about a candidate limited to the final interview
• Place people who will perform better, longer, with less down time at the job
• Know that all the above has been statistically reviewed and is measurable and verifiable – interview with some hard science guiding your choices

When you have the cognitive (skills, training, knowledge), affective (emotions, personality, desires), and conative (striving instincts, will) to do the job – then you have all your mind engaged. Why would you want or settle for anything less?

If you’d like to learn more about how this can help you in your job search or in your hiring practices, please call me at 602.527.0142 or email me at george@JanusCenter.com.

If you would like to learn more about what Kolbe assessments can do for your company, or how this knowledge can help you create a more effective work environment for you or you team, let’s talk.

When your intellect, your desires, and your instincts are all in alignment – there is no limit to what you can achieve.