Samuel was in a bad mood, his wife this morning had really annoyed him by being so negative about her new job, she seemed miserable and downbeat, she was complaining that everything was wrong. Samuel had tried to help her see that is wasn’t but it hadn’t done any good. He was frustrated with her being so despondent when she had no reason to.
On his way into the office he was reflecting on this and he was feeling pretty despondent himself. He walked into his office, head down with a grumpy look on his face, his shoulders were slumped. It was obvious he was not in a good place.
One of his direct reports came towards his office and saw his demeanour. I am not going in there, she thought. Samuel barked an order for her to come in and discuss a report with him.
She came out of his office a while later feeling despondent, she swept out of his office ready to spread the word that Samuel was in a foul mood today.
What this short story from “The Leader’s Guide to Impact” reminds us of is that we always have an impact on people and the world around us, whether we pay attention to it or not. What’s going on on the inside, tends to ‘leak’ and affect those around us. Yes, our moods are contagious.
We can all have bad days, but we can also decide to make it as good a day as we can, by consciously choosing our outlook and the mood we want to spread to those around us. Before walking into work, we can take a moment and decide: how do I want to think and feel, what do I want to create in others as they encounter me?
Ultimately, we are all responsible for the impact we have and the impact we want to have. What mood do you choose to make contagious today?
In every day, there are 1,440 minutes.
That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.
Les Brown
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