In one of Disney’s greatest productions, Remember the Titans , the writers crackan egg of leadership knowledge all over our faces in the midst of a heated confrontation. The captain of the team, Gary, confronts another player, Julius, about his attitude and lack of effort.
In turn, Julius says to Gary, “Attitude reflects leadership, captain.”
If a group isn’t performing up to standards set by the leader, others, or those inside the group, the reaction is normally to ask, “What’s wrong with those people?”
The question we should be asking, however, is, “What’s wrong with their leader?” It is the job of the leader to motivate, challenge, correct, inspire, and set an example for the group. If a group has a poor attitude, it’s a direct result of poor leadership.
I attended a leadership symposium a few weeks ago, and the question was asked, “Why does the millennial generation (those born from 1982—until now) enjoy working in groups?” Before the discussion could even get started, two girls in the back chimed in and said, “We don’t like working in groups. That’s just a chance for people to slack off and capitalize on our hard work.”
For the sake of keeping my cool (and not directly attacking anyone), I didn’t put in my two cents after that response (until now). I thought to myself, “I love working in groups. I’ve worked with those some would call slackers and I’ve had the pleasure of working with absolute all-stars, and I’ve still almost always had an enjoyable experience.”
The problem, from my analysis, isn’t the other people in the group—it was most likely the way those two girls led their groups. A poor attitude, or lack of work ethic, is merely a reflection of poor leadership and direction.
Is this the case all of the time? Maybe not. Maybe there are some people who have a bad attitude no matter what the leadership does—but I’d say that’s very unlikely. A strong leader is able to motivate just about anyone by adapting to each personality, and, most importantly, by setting an example.
Next time you’re leading a group and your followers have a lackluster attitude, remember what the impact of leadership on attitude.