CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
In "The Winner's Edge," author Denis Waitley writes, "The real leaders in business, in the professional community, in education, in government and in the home draw upon a special cutting edge that separates them from the rest of society. The winner's edge is not in a gifted birth, in a high IQ or in talent. The winner's edge is in the attitude, not the aptitude."
We've all seen professional sports teams boast about how much talent they drafted or how much money they are paying some players because of their skills. They think talent alone is enough. However, some of these teams do not always have the most successful or the most winning seasons because it takes more than high-priced talent to win. It takes a great, positive attitude.
Here at Team Charleston, we see great attitudes energize people to perform amazing feats. These great attitudes spark pride and enthusiasm to complete our mission and tasks right the first time, all the time. A great attitude, combined with professional skills and trained expertise, like talent, propels our wing to achieve the unachievable and rise to even grander heights of productivity and mission accomplishment. Simply put, great talent plus a great attitude equals a great team.
Unfortunately, we've seen military units where a bad or negative attitude produces mediocre or substandard results. These units have the talent, but lack an optimistic, helpful, encouraging attitude which holds them back from accomplishing the job at hand and from being outstanding. Bad attitudes are harmful to a team. Bad attitudes hinder a unit's ability to complete the mission safely on time and without error. Bad attitudes, in many cases, produce negative consequences which take a tremendous amount of energy to overcome. Although a unit may have a huge amount of talent and all team members are "A" players, a team with bad attitudes is a losing team every time.
So, you may now be asking yourself, "Do I have a bad attitude?" "Do I have the talent, but my poor way of thinking is holding back myself and my team from being outstanding?" "What can I do to change that?" Well, here's how:
The first step is to tell yourself every day you are an important team member. Tell yourself every day your attitude and your actions make a difference. Tell yourself a positive attitude and talent are necessary to the successful accomplishment of the mission. Tell yourself you are part of a magnificent team of professional, talented men and women who are depending on you and your positive attitude and talent. Tell yourself you are proud to be a member of this team.
The next step is to be encouraging, helpful and positive toward others, especially your teammates. Be upbeat and full of energy no matter how big the job looming ahead of you or how many times you've trained again and again on the same task. Be confident and strong in your abilities, and others around you will be confident and strong as well. A passionate, positive attitude is like wildfire ... it spreads fast!
Finally, be thankful. Be thankful for the many things provided to you each day to do your mission ... to be safe, to live free and to be part of something bigger than yourself -- the defense of our great nation. Don't dwell on things you don't have or the things you think you need. Instead, focus on the good, the positive and what is right -- not the bad or negative. By doing this, you will have the winner's edge now and always.