Motivational speakers have famously touted the slogan, "attitude is everything." While there's no doubt about the power of a positive outlook, attitude alone won't take you to the top. By itself, attitude is unable to resurrect a doomed business plan or make up for a deficiency of knowledge. Attitude can't alter reality or reverse a dire financial situation.

The "attitude is everything" doctrine becomes dangerous when a person lives on hope rather than paying his or her dues for success. The mindset, "Everything will turn out for the best," substitutes for planning and effort. Attitude has undeniable benefit, but it's not a magic ticket that compensates for failure to perform. You cannot disconnect attitude from reality and expect to be successful.

Since attitude has too often been presented as a cure-all, in this edition of LW, I'd like clear away unrealistic impressions of what attitude can accomplish. At the same time, I'd like to advocate the sensational upside of a great attitude.

What Your Attitude Cannot Do For You

1. Your Attitude Cannot Substitute for Competence.

In my leadership experience, I have made the mistake of hiring for attitude and discounting ability. I erroneously thought that positive people would eventually find a way to get the job done-even if they didn't have the exact abilities for their role. Unfortunately, there's no substitute for talent. An attitude of confidence cannot replace competence.

2. Your Attitude Cannot Substitute for Experience.

Idealists have intense desire to change the world and often have a courageous attitude to match their ambition. However, without experience an idealist's wave of enthusiasm will crash on the shores of reality. Certain leadership positions-due to their scope of responsibility-demand the kind of wisdom that is earned solely through experience.

3. Your Attitude Cannot Change the Facts.

As John Adams said, "Facts are stubborn things." They may be painful to accept, but they cannot be ignored. Attitude alone cannot reverse financial numbers showing a company on the verge of bankruptcy. The reality for many companies involves difficult decisions like outsourcing or layoffs to cut costs.

By itself, attitude cannot stem the tide of an evolving industry. For instance, newspapers must adjust their advertising strategies to confront the fact that consumers are flocking online for news. Without a fundamental shift in their business models, traditional newspapers face extinction-regardless of the attitudes permeating their company cultures.

4. Your Attitude Cannot Substitute for Personal Growth.

Attitude fills us with hope that we might reach our dreams. However, hope divorced from action proves false. In the words of musician, Bruce Springsteen, "A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be." Never stop dreaming, but also never cease growing if you expect your dreams to come true.

What Your Attitude Can Do For You

1. Your Attitude Makes a Difference in Your Approach to Life.

Our performance will likely match the expectations we have of ourselves or the expectations we allow others to impose upon us. In fact, it's very difficult to behave in a way that is contrary to self-expectations.

At the professional levels, athletes are encouraged to visualize themselves having a successful performance before competing. Visualization has proved to be a productive technique for enhancing an athlete's play. Likewise, flooding your mind with thoughts of successful leadership can be pivotal in setting healthy self-expectations.

2. Your Attitude Makes a Difference in Your Relationships with People.

Many factors come into play when working with people, but what makes or breaks interpersonal skills is a person's attitude. In my book, Winning with People, I describe twenty-five people principles that anyone can use to become better at building relationships and working with others. Many of those principles are attitude-based. Here are some examples:

• The Lens Principle: Who we are determines how we see others. Our perception of others depends more on our attitude than it does their characteristics. If we are positive, we see them as positive.
• The Pain Principle: Hurting people hurt people and are easily hurt by them.Our negative experiences and emotional baggage color our perception of others' actions. Normal interactions can cause us pain even when another person did nothing to inflict pain.
• The Elevator Principle: We can lift people up or take them down in our relationships.People possess a mindset of either lifting or limiting others.
• The Learning Principle: Each person we meet has the potential to teach us something.People in possession of a teachable attitude can learn from everyone they meet. On the contrary, someone who assumes others have nothing to offer will walk away from relationships empty-handed.
2. Your Attitude Makes a Difference in How You Face Challenges.

Circumstances appear to be instrumental in the creation of great leaders and thinkers, but such is the case only when their attitudes are right. Your attitude is the paint brush of your mind. It colors your world with brilliant optimism or a dark veneer of negativity. Consider these historical examples of leaders whose attitudes carried them beyond circumstances:

• Demosthenes, called the greatest orator of ancient Greece, possessed a speech impediment. He overcame it by reciting verses with pebbles in his mouth and speaking over the roar of the waves at the seashore.
• Composer Ludwig von Beethoven wrote his greatest symphonic masterpieces after he had become deaf.
• John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progresswhile in prison. Daniel Dafoe also wrote while in prison, producing Robinson Crusoe.
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt is considered by many to be among the best American presidents. Despite his polio handicap, FDR led the nation through the Great Depression and World War II.

For years I have tried to live by the following statement: I cannot always choose what happens to me, but I can always choose what happens in me. My attitude in circumstances beyond my control can be the difference maker. My attitude in the areas that I do control will be the difference maker.

Summary:

What Your Attitude Cannot Do For You

• Substitute for Competence
• Substitute for Experience
• Change the Facts
• Substitute for Personal Growth

What Your Attitude Can Do For You

• Make a Difference in Your Approach to Life
• Make a Difference in Your Relationships with People
• Make a Difference in How You View Challenges