I don't know about you, but I'm thrilled that election season is finally over! It's not that I don't care about the issues or the importance of voting. I'm just exhausted by the constant barrage of negative political advertising. It feels like every commercial is telling me why I should be afraid of someone or angry about something.
I found myself asking: Why does negativity get so much attention?
It turns out there's actually a psychological explanation. It's called negativity bias, and it describes our tendency to pay more attention to negative information than positive information. Our brains are wired to notice potential threats, and that instinct can make negative messages especially difficult to ignore.
You See What You Are Looking For
That same tendency shows up in leadership and at work. Imagine having a day where your team does 99 things right and one thing wrong. Which one are you most likely to be thinking about on your drive home?
I know I've been guilty of focusing on the one thing that went wrong, even when there were dozens of things worth celebrating. When I leave an event, I'll sometimes find myself dwelling on the one or two issues I spotted rather than all the things our team did incredibly well. And in some ways, that's part of our responsibility as leaders. We have to identify problems, address challenges, and help our teams improve. Continuous improvement requires us to be honest about where we can get better, but that doesn't mean we should overlook everything that's already working.
Think about the impact that has on the people we lead. If the only time they hear from us is when something needs to be fixed, what message are we sending? How often do we take the time to recognize the things they're doing well?
We may not be able to control the negativity coming at us from the outside world, but we can be intentional about overcoming our natural tendency to focus on what's wrong. We can address mistakes, learn from them, and make the necessary adjustments while still celebrating progress and appreciating the people who make it possible.
So this week, I encourage you to ask yourself:
Am I giving more attention to what's going wrong than to everything that's going right?
