Feeling Negative? Reframe Challenges as Opportunities

Brief 

Your team may perceive you as negative if you’re constantly pointing out the obstacles to new ideas, so be sure to offer affirmation and reframe challenges as opportunities, writes David Dye. Also, keep an eye on your own energy, Dye writes, recommending that if you’re tired, ask others to bring you their ideas when you’re feeling refreshed.

Insight

When your team or supervisor thinks of you as a negative person, you’re less likely to be invited to conversations where you would have valuable contributions to make. You’re less likely to receive recognition for your work and your odds of promotion go down. If you often hear that you’re too negative, learning how to be less negative is a critical skill to master—and fast.

That might not feel fair—after all, Eeyore was still invited to all the goings on in the Hundred Acre Woods and appreciated for his loyalty. But unless Winnie the Pooh and Tigger are on your team, shifting that perception of negativity will help you have more influence and contribute your expertise.

The good news is that there are easy shifts you can make that don’t require you to change your personality – It’s not about changing who you are. And these shifts will help you bring your best qualities to every team and conversation.

Why It’s Hard to Hear

“Don’t be so negative” can be incredibly frustrating feedback when you don’t think of yourself as negative.I know because I’ve heard this feedback many times in my career and relationships. What made it so frustrating is that in almost every one of those circumstances, I would not have told you I was being negative.

Most of the time, from my perspective, I was engaging with an idea, answering questions I thought I’d been asked, or trying to prevent problems.