It's all about attitude but it's not what you're thinking

I am watching an NCAA men's basketball game. The ball gets tipped away from the guard bringing it across the center line and there's a pileup as several players dive for the ball. Dickie V says,

"Look at the All American getting down on the floor! The hustle, the drive! You know, Bill, he has such a good attitude on the basketball floor."

What does he mean?

An account manager gets called into the sales manager's office for a performance review. The sales manager says,

"I don't understand your attitude lately. You've been coming in late. Your desk is a mess. You seem to be keeping to yourself and you're awfully quiet."

Does the account manager have a bad attitude? How can you tell?

Coaches, advisers, parents - they all love a positive attitude but how do you get one and how do you keep it? Does it mean that you have to be perpetually positive even in the face of real tragedy?

It could have been worse!

Everything happens for a reason!

It takes 47 muscles to frown but only 3 to smile!

For me, the most instructive definition of attitude is that used by aviators. The attitude of a plane is the measure of the plane's positive or negative angle relative to the horizon. If the pilot is trying to take off, the attitude of the plane must be above the horizon line. The plane is climbing and that is good! Conversely, when the pilot wishes to land the plane, she must point the nose below the horizon line so that the plane descends. The plane is descending and that is good!
In aviation, attitude is relative to the horizon line. In sales, attitude is relative to the seller's goals. We believe that a seller is more likely to achieve his goals if he has a positive demeanor, if he is exhibiting the behaviors consistent with sales achievement (making calls and setting up presentations), if he is interacting productively with support personnel, etc. When we witness something other than that, we label the seller as having a bad attitude.

Not so fast.

Have you ever been on an airplane that suddenly changes course? The pilot points the nose down and descends rapidly for five or six seconds. Your assumption is that the plane is no longer attempting to achieve its goal of landing in Phoenix and you decide that this is bad. The nose is pointed down before landing and we are descending. This is a bad attitude. But, what if the pilot just learned that another airplane was at the same altitude as his plane and he descended quickly to avoid a collision? You wouldn't want him to keep the same attitude relative towards the goal of landing in Phoenix and crash the plane in mid-air! You didn't have all the information but you still made a decision about attitude.

Back to our seller. As it turns out, the seller just found out that his baby needs to stay in the hospital after a difficult birth. He is upset and is dealing with a personal tragedy. When you see him, he is sullen and withdrawn. His long term goal of being the very best sales person in the organization, the goal against which his attitude is normally measured, has been replaced with a short term goal of trying to keep his wife from becoming unglued. The short term goal has taken the precedence of the long term goal and the behaviors of the sales person have changed. However, his attitude - the direction of his behavior relative to the most important goal in his life - has not changed. He knows that he has to fix the problem at home in order to be able to focus on work once again. Nothing about what he is going through changes his desire to be the very best sales person in the organization.

Great sales people come in all shapes and sizes. Some smile all the time and some do not. Some are back slappers and others tend to keep to themselves. All of them have a great attitude. In order to discover this you first need to have an understanding of the seller's short and long term goals.

Tips for sales managers:

1) Get to know your sellers as intimately as possible. What is going on in their lives that might occasionally take precedence over work?
2) Be quick to ask how you can help but not quick to judge a seller's attitude based on her demeanor.
3) Let it be known that experiencing human emotions in the work place is okay with you. When seller's realize they can have a range of emotion they are more trusting of management and more willing to let you know how to help.
4) Discourage gossiping between sales people about each other by refusing to participate. Answer all questions that sound like, "What's his problem?" with "I'm not sure he has a problem but if he does, I sure would like to help."
5) Never acuse a proven seller of having a bad attitude. Ask the proven performer if there are obstacles that you can help remove. Encourage a little self-analyzation - "What could you be doing differently to get a better result?"