Have you ever approached a new experience with hesitation, distrust, and a negative attitude? Been so skeptical that you refused to open your mind to the experience? Did you magically end up having a great time at said experience? I’m guessing not. When you have already decided that you aren’t going to like the new thing you try, chances are, you’ll be right.
Our minds are powerful tools that have the ability to make the absolute best (or absolute worst) of any given situation. At Signature Teambuilding, we can directly see the role attitude plays when it comes to someone’s participation with one of our programs. In fact, a specific story comes to mind:
A group of 15 arrived our site, stepping off the van and excited to get started with the Signature Teambuilding program, with the exception of the last individual to exit the vehicle. We’ll call this gentleman Henry. Henry begrudgingly stepped out using his cane and “I don’t want to be here, they made me come and I’m not doing anything.” Lifting his cane off the ground, he said, “See? Where can I sit down?” Not wanting him to be excluded from the group, I pulled up a chair and said, “You can sit here and if at any time you find you would like to participate, you can join in.” He muttered something unpleasant under his breath as I shifted my focus to the willing participants.
The group and I carried on with the program and experience-based activities; people were having fun, learning and talking about how the lessons were relatable to their work. Occasionally, they would signal over to Henry and let him know he was welcome. This went on for a couple hours, inviting him over, but to no avail. Eventually, the group gave up asking him to join in, claiming, “he’s always like that.” However, as the afternoon carried on he drew his chair closer and began listen to the conversations following the activities. He was able to see that the activities were non-threatening, interesting and fun and slowly began to engage with the group.
Before we knew it, Henry was fully involved and not only was he fully participating, he was also doing more than he or anyone else thought he would do. It was truly an amazing transformation to witness! In our final reflection at the end of the day, Henry said the thing he learned about himself was that he was responsible for not having interactions with people. He spoke of declining activities with his children, not because he physically couldn’t, but because of his negative attitude. Not only was his attitude affecting his relationships at work, but it was also affecting his behavior towards his family! Before leaving that day, Henry made a commitment to change his attitude, keep an open mind and be willing to try new things and engage with people.
I reconnected with Henry about six months later and he had fulfilled his promise to himself. He was happier at work and at home; he’d even started riding bikes with his kids! He credits us with helping him transform his life, but it was his willingness to shift his attitude that ultimately brought him lasting change. If you approach our activities with an open mind and a positive attitude, we believe you’ll leave the experience with successful behaviors to change your own life, both personally and professionally.