Want to improve Workplace Morale? Start with how you Choose to view your world

My wife and I recently finished reading a book: ‘The Choice’ by Dr Edith Eger, an Auschwitz survivor who went on to become a clinical psychologist – she’s still practising in her 90’s.

This is a truly profound book on many fronts.  For me, the essence of Eger’s incredible story and message, is provided in her final Acknowledgements: “…it’s not what happens that matters – it’s what you do with it.”

Early in the book she tells the story of her arrival at Auschwitz. Without spoiling the drama and power of the specific events she vividly describes, Eger has her first revelation about choice: “ It’s the first time I see that we have a choice: to pay attention to what we’ve lost or to pay attention to what we still have.”

Later, well after the conclusion of the war, discussing her new life in America, she comments: “Each moment is a choice.  No matter how frustrating or boring or constraining or painful or oppressive our experience, we can always choose how we respond...This realization will change my life”

It’s this realisation which had a profound impact on my view of leadership nearly a decade ago.  The circumstances were far from dramatic, yet for me they were no less compelling.  

Working as a senior leader in an organisation where considerable tensions existed between management and staff, the leadership team were told in no uncertain terms by a consultant, that we were the source of the problem!  

Specifically, it was how we viewed the situation.  We were living in a world of blame, dwelling on past events and not willing to take responsibility for our actions.

It was around this time, I became familiar with the work of the great Stephen Covey.  Covey’s discussion of paradigms resonated strongly with me.  Ultimately, our attitudes and behaviours – what we think, say and do, are driven by our paradigms – how we see the world; our frame of reference; our mental map.  

My experience in the workplace and beyond, supports Covey’s contention:  If we want to make minor changes in our lives – we can work on our behaviours.  Significant, quantum breakthroughs, however, come from working on our paradigms.

For leaders who have a strong desire to create and maintain a high morale environment for their staff, it’s crucial they do so in a strategic way.  They need to employ concrete, practical skills and strategies and not merely rely on their personality.

More significantly, they need to become aware of their paradigms, particularly those related to how they see people and circumstances – when the going gets tough – when the proverbial hits the fan.

My next series of posts will expand on two starkly different paradigms we can adopt.  A ‘Red Triangle’ view of our world or a ‘Blue Triangle’ outlook. 

As Edith Eger says, it all comes down to our CHOICE!