Positively Contagious
December 7th, 2009 Posted in Newsletter
The Swine Flu is not the only thing you catch at work. Turns out you are just as likely to catch someone’s bad mood and negative attitude. Yes, the latest research demonstrates what we’ve all known to be true, that emotions are contagious. Researchers call them emotional contagions and they impact our work environments, productivity, teamwork, service and performance in significant and profound ways.
As we know all too well, one negative employee can pollute an entire team and create a toxic work environment. One negative leader can make work miserable for his/her team. An employee in a bad mood can turn off and turn away countless customers. Complaining can act like a cancer and spread throughout the entire organization and eventually destroy your vision and goals. And pervasive negative attitudes can sabotage the morale and performance of teams with great talent and potential.
That’s the bad news… but there’s also good news.
Positive emotions are just as contagious as negative emotions. One positive leader can rally a group of willing people to accomplish amazing things. One Chief Energy Officer who sits at the welcome desk can positively infect every person who walks in your business/school/workplace. One positive team member can slowly but surely improve the mood and moral of her team. And pervasive positive attitudes and emotions at work can fuel the morale and performance of your organization.
Emotional contagions are the reason why when I speak to businesses, schools and sports teams I say that everyone in the organization contributes to the culture of it. You are not just a creation of your culture but rather you are creating it every day through your thoughts, beliefs and actions. What you think matters. How you feel matters. And the energy you share with others, whether it’s positive or negative, really matters.
You can be negatively contagious or positively contagious. You can be a germ and attack your organizations immune system or you can act like a dose of Vitamin C and strengthen it.
So the next time you head into work with a bad mood you might want to stop before you walk in the door and consider what your boss would say if you had the Swine Flu. She would tell you to stay home until you are healthy and not contagious. And in that moment, as you stand at the door you have choice: You can go home so you don’t infect anyone with your bad mood, or you can choose to get healthy right there, change your attitude, and decide to be positively contagious.
You are not an island unto yourself. You are forever contagious and you and your emotions impact the world around you.
Stay Positive,
- Jon
Do you think one person can positively or negatively impact the mood of their team? Yes or No? Why? Have you seen this firsthand? Join the conversation here.
Tags: impact, jon gordon, positively contagious, productivity, solutions, team, Teamwork, Work
9 Responses to “Positively Contagious”
By on Dec 7, 2009
In the 80’s I listened to Creating Teamwork by Lee Shelton (cassette tapes) and he pointed out that you can tell the mood of a person as soon as they got off the elevator. The same is true whenever anyone enters a room. Some people habitually darken a room when they enter. For these people I have learned that by simply saying “I Love This Person” to myself and keep that thought my attitude towards that person has changed and to a great degree that person’s attitude seems to have changed towards me. Maybe it is I get what I expect. Whatever it is, I’ll take it!
Gymbeaux
By Pamela on Dec 7, 2009
Absolutely. Negativity is like venom, hitting one area of the body, then spreading and infecting healthy tissue. If not reversed, it can be devastating. On the other hand, positivity is also contagious, and can heal infected areas.
By Julee on Dec 7, 2009
The video is amazing–until the end. Leave off the being fed or feed yourself.
The message speaks volumes to those who have lost hope in the despire of unemployment and/or mental illness.
I have a mental illness. The website/signs/videos along with other encouraging websites are helping me move forward. The prospects with my complex diagnoses are not good, but I can strive to be my very best and work as many hours as I possibly can.
I am keeping a journal now of the positives because bipolar has a fine balance. I am med-compliant, but that balance has not been found. The days when “Flowers for Algernon” is real to me and depressions still exist. I must remember the good.
Don’t shut out people with just two phrases. The rest of the video is just too good for that.
By Joan Touveill on Dec 7, 2009
Everyone now and them gets up on the wrong side of the bed and when it happens to me when I get to work I take a deep breath and walk through the doors with a positive attitude and have a good day. Joan
By Dennis Nepini on Dec 7, 2009
Jon,
It’s also the responsibility of each employee to work together to kick a negative person in the head! If they group together, eliminate them! There’s a ton of talent in the market these days…
Enjoy,
Dennis Nepini
By Louise on Dec 18, 2009
when I am around negative people, specially those at work talking trash about someone else, I either divert the conversation, or leave. I find less and less people then tend to do this around me. Sometimes I divert by saying something positive about that person, that really throws them off. Happy Holidays from Colorado
By sarah on Jan 5, 2010
my science fair project is on this. are positive and negetive moods contagious between people. ive done a whole bunch of research and is very neresting so far.
<3
By sarah on Jan 5, 2010
By Angel on Jan 12, 2010
My grandmother sent me this article shortly after I expressed to her how unhappy I am at my job. Negativity can really cause damage to a business, but it can also destroy a person’s spirit. It made me feel sorry for the people I work for because they will never understand the power of being positive.