Attitude is Everything

When it comes to hiring people, attitude matters, so look for job applicants with a positive attitude. And be sure to develop it in yourself and your organization too. Leadership training consultant Mark Murphy tracked 20,000 new hires at Fortune 500 companies and found that nearly half of them failed within the first 18 months on the job. An overwhelming 89 percent of those failures stemmed from “attitudinal reasons,” he found. Author and educator Roger Martin told the Harvard Business Review that he once hired only “smart” candidates. After many of those high-potential employees failed, Martin turned his attention to candidates he deemed less “brittle.” Those workers turned out to be more successful. They listened to feedback, sought professional development and improved morale on their teams despite having slightly lower GPAs than the “smart&#...