The Importance of a Manager's Attitude

"I'm Ivan Madar. I'm here on behalf of Expert Village. It is really the attitude of the manager that really dictates the environment. And I'm totally convinced of this because I've had experiences where, and I know personally of experiences where a manager would leave a very successful club, a manager would leave, another manager will take his place, and a place would start failing, and floundering, and not being successful. The staff remained the same, the facility remained the same, but the leadership has changed. What has changed really is the attitudes. And the attitudes are controlled by the manager. The manager sets the standards, the staff follows. There is no other way, people will do it very seldom, if there's any difference there will be a conflict between or among the employees, or between a manager and a supervisor. There is a saying that whatever happens, about ten percent of what happens to you just happens from outside, and about ninety percent of what happens to you is how you react to it. So, if that's true, that means every time you act, you react to someone and you're creating an, you're projecting an attitude, and you are creating an environment which is either hostile or it's going to friendly and inviting. So, how you feel with issues is more important than what happens. It doesn't matter if somebody does something. Somebody does this, or somebody does that, or the roof falls down, or water leaks, or his director doesn't show up. It's how you react to it and what you do with it that creates the good will and understanding of the members. How do you do it? My impression is that first you have to be fair. Being fair, that means considering both sides of the issue and making a decision, is extremely important. So there's no other way to explain it and obviously circumstance has it own merit, but being fair and being to the point, and being decisive is extremely important. Second thing is if you make a mistake as a manager, don't be afraid to admit it, and then correct it immediately. Don't let it linger. Don't let it hide. Nobody is perfect."