Corporate Leadership Begins With A.S.K. - Attitude, Skills, and Knowledge

Good Corporate Leadership Starts With The Mind

“In Life, it is your attitude, more than your aptitude, that will determine your altitude?”

If you said, Zig Ziglar, Stephen R. Covey or John C. Maxwell you would be right.
It’s true. We see it in school. The young person who seemed to be the brightest, scored the best on the exams, they held the most promise. They were loaded with knowledge. Then one day they decided to cut class. They hung out with the wrong crowd. Graduated in the middle of their class, why? Because they had a bad attitude.

Or, how about in athletics? This person was the rookie of the year, he demonstrated great skills. But, all the fanfare and the good press, and this person decides that they don’t need to work hard in practice anymore or worse, they don’t even show up for practice!

What happened? The coach says this person is a bad apple and not good for the morale of the team. The coach cuts him!

So much talent, so much promise, wasted.

On the other side of the spectrum, I am reminded of the biographical movie Rudy. This 1993 movie is about a young man with very little means and below average grades. Rudy aspires to play football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I don’t want to spoil the movie. Let’s just say the Rudy has a heavy dose of perseverance and determination. Both are character traits of someone with a good attitude.
What is going on here? And how does this apply to life?

The Education of Corporate Leadership Starts With 3 Letters, A.S.K.

A.S.K.

There are just 3 ingredients that determines a person’s success in any enterprise.

Attitude
Skills
Knowledge

Knowledge and Skills

Knowledge is knowing what to do. Imagine that you are a contractor, you build homes. Knowledge is knowing what to do to build a house. The foundation, the framing, the electrical and the plumbing etc. But just because you know what to do, does not mean that you know how to do it. This is where skill comes in. Do you know how to pour concrete, how to wire for the dimmable chandelier, or how to install the hot water tank? These are skills. Just because you know what to do doesn’t necessarily mean that you know how to do it. Clearly, you need both the Knowledge and the Skills to build a house yourself. But there is a missing third ingredient.

Attitude

You need a good attitude. If you could not find the motivation to start on your home building project, it won’t get built. If you ran into an obstacle, you need the attitude of perseverance to build the house. If you lack the attitude of tenacity the house does not get finished. In fact, if you did not have the knowledge or the skills to build the house, but you had a good attitude, you could still build the house! Why? Because your good attitude could motivate and inspire you to get the knowledge and the skills that you needed to build the house. You know what’s strange though, when you think about it? When you obtain the knowledge of what to do, whatever the task and you learn the skills of how to do it, you rarely forget it! Like riding a bike. You may not have done it in a while, but it comes back quickly! Knowledge and skills are rarely lost. But attitude? Attitude is different. Good attitude is something that one needs to work on every single day! In fact, if you are like me, you can wake up in the morning, grab that first cup of coffee and be on top of the world. One cranky client, two zoom calls and a project delay and my attitude can be in the dumpster by noon!

Application

Check your attitude daily. Heck, if you’re like me, you may need to check it hourly! Turn off the negative news, social media, surfing the internet. Read positive books, listen to positive podcasts, work out. I can promise you this, if you pay attention to your attitude, your results will soar to new heights. Attitude determines your altitude.

Ready to take on your personal success with attitude? Is it time to motivate your team into action through enhanced corporate leadership?

At Fort Leadership we have a mindset of conceive, believe, and achieve. Offering consultation services, coaching, and speaker events, we can help anyone find the right attitude to reach their goals. Call us at: (770) 597-9005 to flip the switch on your business attitude.

Kalajian’s Korner

Corporate Leadership Begins With A.S.K. – Attitude, Skills, and Knowledge