Have you ever had to work with a leader who has a perpetually bad attitude? I have, and it negatively impacted my perspective of the company, my stress level, and my results.
A leader’s attitude sets the tone for decisions, team dynamics, and performance. When a bad attitude is ignored – your own or someone else’s – it drains time, energy, and focus. Progress slows, collaboration weakens, and morale drops.
Left unchecked, one bad attitude spreads fast and impacts many.
Timeless Wisdom
Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
Your attitude influences how you show up, how others experience you, and how your team performs. A leader who believes improvement is possible finds a way. One who believes it’s hopeless creates proof of that belief.
Ford knew belief drives performance, and bad attitudes are fueled by negative beliefs – real or imagined.
Maya Angelou added a layer of accountability with her perspective: “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
Finally, “one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.” This applies to leaders and team members alike.
We can’t always control our circumstances, but our attitude is one thing only we can control.
A leader’s attitude has the power to open the door to solutions, innovation, and goal achievement. But a bad attitude will create dread, frustration, confusion, and derail results.
One Personal Example
Years ago, a manager who reported to me had a perpetually bad attitude. He was negative about nearly everything and everyone. His demeanor told everyone “Knock this chip off my shoulder, I dare you.” And most people didn’t dare.
I started dreading meeting with him and sighing every time I saw his name pop up on my phone. There was always an issue, and too often I had to intervene. Worse than the drain on my time and energy, he made sure to share his cynicism with his team. This created skepticism, resistance, and tension that undermined their performance.
This manager had knowledge and expertise, but his bad attitude created more trouble than his experience could offset. Feedback and coaching didn’t help, and before long it was clear keeping him would cost more than letting him go.
Sadly, he’d been in his role, with this bad attitude, for years. His prior leaders had ignored or tolerated it. Yep, his reputation was well established long before I stepped in.
When I let him go, I expected some fall-out from his team, but it never came.
I covered his department for a few weeks before transitioning them to a new manager, and something remarkable happened… Team members said it was like a weight had lifted, or the blinds had been opened, and light could finally come in.
In no time, the team started collaborating internally and across departments more, and rediscovering what they enjoyed in their roles.
Within months, results strengthened, cross-functional relationships improved, and my peers were commenting on how much easier it was to work with that team.
Personally, my stress level dropped. Even though I had a new manager to train. No longer being constantly drawn into the wake of this leader’s bad attitude gave me back a few hours of valuable time each week too.
“Attitude is like fire. Unattended, a bad attitude spreads, leaving everyone damaged in its path.” – Karen Pelot
Tips to Remedy a Bad Attitude
Research from Harvard Business Review shows that a leader’s mindset determines how they think, learn, and behave (attitude). A leader’s attitude impacts decisions, team engagement, and results, making it either a strategic advantage or a disaster.
If you think you could use an attitude adjustment, practice with these steps:
- Recognize your internal dialogue. When you recognize your own bad attitude, take a breath and ask yourself:
- Am I seeing this as an opportunity or a burden?
- Am I leading from current possibilities or from past frustrations?
- Reframe negative thoughts. Shifting from worry, fear, anger, or reactive thoughts to forward looking, what’s possible thoughts makes space for reasonable, logical, problem-solving thoughts.
- Shift “This is impossible” to “What would we do if it were possible?”
- Shift “He’s a jerk!” to “What am I contributing to this relationship?”
- Shift “You’re wrong! Just listen to me!” to “What might I be missing? Help me understand your view.”
- Model the attitude you expect from others. Rather than auto-reactions and snap judgments, slow down for a nano second. Take a deep breath and consider:
- If I want to be effective, respected, and trusted, what’s my next best step?
- If my behavior is a model for my team (and it is), what would I want them to do?
Your team is susceptible to your tone, your reactions to pressure, and how you recover from setbacks.
Remember, attitudes are contagious, and they move outward from the person with the most perceived power in the moment. Make sure you send out a productive one!
Addressing a Bad Attitude on Your Team
If you’ve ever worked with someone who had a bad attitude, what did your leader do? Unfortunately, more often than not, bad attitudes get ignored. When leaders ignore negativity, what feels easiest at the time becomes a measurable cost.
A 2023 SCRUM study of more than 1,000 leaders found that teams with one chronically negative member perform 30–40% worse than teams with none.
Why leaders ignore bad attitudes
- Skill blinders: Negative behavior is tolerated because the person is technically competent. Leaders think expertise is worth the pain.
- Underestimating the spread. Leaders hope more positive team members will change the bad apple. Instead, peers end up trying to work around and appease the bad attitude, as their work environment suffers.
- Conflict avoidance. Tough conversations can be tough! Believe it or not, most Americans shy away from direct communication that may produce conflict or feel risky.
How to overcome the avoidance
You know the bad attitude needs to be addressed, but how? It’s simple: quickly, privately, and objectively.
- Set clear behavioral standards for all. These expectations apply to everyone at every level within the organization. They are what you point to when an attitude becomes toxic. These standards keep behavior-related conversations objective.
- Address standard violations promptly and privately. When negativity is not an anomaly, one-on-one feedback and reiteration of the standards is needed. Describe what you’ve observed, explain its impact, listen to their perspective, offer training and support, and remain firm on personal accountability for behavior.
- Uphold expectations. Support improvement and require change. Follow your internal processes and move forward with next steps, if the bad attitude doesn’t improve.
Clear standards, early intervention, and holding everyone accountable supports your culture and preserves your credibility as a leader.
The Wrap
Leaders, every day you set the tone for your team. It is your responsibility to manage your own attitude and your team members, for the good of all.
The quotes I shared at the beginning are all true…Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right. If you don’t like something, change it or change your attitude. One bad apple really can spoil the whole bunch.
Attitudes matter and they are contagious. Yours is completely, and only, within your control.
If you or your leadership team would benefit from creating a high-trust / high-accountability team, reach out today. That’s exactly what we do!
