How often does an employee come up to you and volunteer a positive statement? For example:

• “It is a great day! Everyone who was supposed to work today came in.”
• “The systems are all working as they should be.”
• “I have the tools and equipment I need to do my job well.”
• “It is wonderful to work for a boss who is so appreciative of my work.”
• “Wow! These customers are so grateful for the service we are giving.”
• “Thank you for providing just the perfect amount of communication.”

Probably never! Most leaders tell me they never hear those things. Employees don’t hear a lot of positive messages, either.

Yet we need positive workplace cultures. No workplace is perfect (and sometimes negativity is called for), but an environment that’s mostly positive makes people happy and engaged rather than cynical. Happy, engaged employees are more productive and creative. Positivity also improves trust levels in the organization, which leads to stronger workplace relationships and paves the way for better communication and collaboration.

Plus, when workplaces are positive, people enjoy coming to work. They feel a strong sense of meaning and purpose. Turnover is lower and the best talent is attracted to your company. Over time, all of this will lead to a higher-performing organization.

The challenge is that positivity doesn’t come naturally to people. My experience is that negativity grows like a weed in a workplace, but a positive culture needs to be cultivated. Our natural tendency as human beings is to focus on what’s wrong. This is a survival skill leftover from caveman days. Leaders in particular are problem-solvers. We believe our job is to zero in on challenges and solve them. We just aren’t as good at noticing positives and bringing attention to them. Yet in a thriving workplace, we need to be doing this regularly.

We may assume that what’s right is obvious and typically goes unspoken. But this is just not true. I have never had anyone approach me during seminars and say “the temperature is just right.” Occasionally I do have people come up to me and say, “It’s freezing in here” or “I’m burning up.” During a break in the seminar I ask the attendees, “How many of you are too hot? Too cold? Just right?” Most of the time the “just right” wins by a large margin. But until the question is asked, the “what is wrong” seems to surface the fastest (and the loudest).

All this means is that as leaders we have to be deliberate and proactive about creating a positive culture. We can’t ignore the negative, of course. But we can make an effort to grow the positive so that it outweighs the negative. Here are a few suggestions:

• First, fix any big glaring issues that might be causing negativity. Being a well-run organization takes care of a lot of negativity and frustration. When things are not working well (including relationships, processes, or equipment), it’s hard for people to stay positive.
• It’s important to make sure employees have the tools they need to do their job and that equipment is in good repair. Poorly maintained equipment requires work-arounds, creating frustration and wasted time and makes employees feel like you don’t care.
• Also, are there any processes or leader behaviors that need to change. For example, are leaders as transparent as they should be? Could they be doing other things that are causing a breakdown of trust? Do employees have a voice and input into big decisions?
• All of this will require some digging into the specific issues that may be causing negativity to thrive. Regularly ask if there are things that need to be repaired. Create a plan and assign someone to oversee the changes and let employees know you are working on things. Negativity often doesn’t come from the problems themselves, but more from employees feeling leaders don’t care or aren’t listening.
• Fixing the problems you already know about has to be the first step. Without tackling big cultural, process, and equipment problems, none of your efforts to spread positivity will matter. It has to be authentic.
• Learn to lead from a place of “what’s right.” Learn to focus on the wins, bright spots, and what is going well. (This kind of positivity, just like negativity, is contagious.) Look for positives and accentuate them when you can. When we start with the positive we feel good about ourselves and the company. We feel our work is meaningful. This gives us the energy and feeling of ownership we need to take action. Coming from a place of positivity makes us want to make things even better. When we do this regularly our positive attitude spreads to others in the organization.
• Measure employee engagement—and act on the diagnosis. This is another great way to uncover problems and frustrations (as well as what’s going right)! It’s important to diagnose the problem before you start treatment. Plus, regularly measuring engagement shows people you care. You care that they’re treated fairly, that they feel psychologically “safe,” that they’re comfortable making suggestions, etc. Use a well-regarded and proven assessment tool to learn where any issues lie. Be transparent about the results and commit to solving the problems you discover.
• Force low-performing employees to improve—and if they won’t, ask them to leave. Dealing with low performers is obviously connected to the well-being of your company, but it’s also a deeply important part of keeping the team happy. No one wants to work with those who don’t pull their weight. Other employees have to pick up their slack and it breeds resentment and low morale. Allowing them to stick around could even prompt your best people to leave. If leaders don’t deal with performance issues, other employees may think you aren’t paying attention to who is actually doing the work.
• This is why it’s so vital to have a system in place for holding regular performance conversations with all of your employees—and the more often, the better. Everyone needs to be consistently coached toward improvement, but especially low performers. If you can’t move them up you’ll need to move them out. They are just too damaging to those who are making positive contributions and doing their best work.
• Celebrate wins and bright spots every chance you get. A big part of creating a positive culture means communicating the great things that happen. When you hit a goal or land a big account or get a great compliment on one of your departments, talk it up. Put it in your company newsletter and on the bulletin board. Announce it at staff meetings. The more you share the great things that are happening in your company the more aware of them your people will become.
• When something “big” happens, you might even want to take employees out to lunch or bring in a cake or doughnuts. Mini-celebrations go a long way toward creating positive energy.
• While these things might seem simple and insignificant, they matter to employees. We’ve all gotten so busy that we have let some of these things fall by the wayside, but they make a difference. Take the time to reinstate small celebrations. The cumulative effect of these things can be significant. What gets rewarded and recognized gets repeated. (For more information on reward and recognition, see Chapter 18.)
• Get in the habit of asking employees what’s going well and if there are things they feel could be made better. My experience is most of the time the answers are positive. If not, leaders will have items to address. However, you still get a win because the employee feels heard and has input. This is a very important part of creating an environment of trust in your company.
• If the person does not have a response, cultivate it. Ask questions like: Did everyone come in today? Are the systems working? Do you have the needed supplies, product, tools to do your job today? Again, chances are most of their responses will be positive. By starting with the positive you help people see the good in their workplace that often goes unrecognized.
• Find best practices and move them throughout the organization. This is key to creating an environment where people can do their best possible work. If you discover that one department is doing well in a certain area—for example, if their communication is particularly good—find out exactly what they are doing right. Then teach people in other departments to do the same. In this way, you’re making their jobs easier and everyone’s results improve over time.
• Enlist employees in the campaign against negativity and cynicism. Of course, there are no “band-aids” to turning around a negative culture. You really do need to identify and address big issues that might be creating cynicism. However, a certain amount of negative talk might just be habit. Tell employees that you want to make positivity one of your company’s values. Spell out what positivity looks like in action and include it in your standards of behavior. For example: “I will not badmouth customers” or “I will not say anything about a coworker that I wouldn’t say to their face” or “I will say thank you when someone helps me.”
• Regularly connect employees back to meaning and purpose. Sometimes people can lose sight of why they do the work they do. When this happens it’s easy for them to get focused on the wrong things. This is when negativity and cynicism begin to thrive. You can help by reminding people about the difference they make in the lives of customers and coworkers. See Chapter 19 for some suggestions.

It’s not always easy for leaders to shift to this way of thinking. For many of us, who may be dedicated problem-solvers from way back, it goes against the grain. Yet once you start intentionally focusing on the positive, and seeing the results, it gets easier. Positivity just feels good. Soon you will find yourself seeing more and more positives to celebrate and share—which creates even more positives to celebrate and share.