What are People Catching from You?

The Guy On the Train

Last week. I was comfortably seated on an outbound Metra commuter train headed home after a productive day in the city.  Suddenly my comfort was disrupted by the man seated in front of me.  He began coughing.  His was no ordinary cough.  It reminded me of the sleepless nights we had when our children had croup. He’d suppress it for a while.  Then it would start up again.  His involuntary act instantly impacted my attitude.

Beyond the croup-y cough flash backs, his intermittent coughing triggered an assortment of emotions.

• I was annoyed from being disrupted from my reading.
• I was fearful of what kind of virus that I might be catching.
• I was angry; wishing that this guy had stayed home from work to both take care of himself and avoid spreading this nasty infection.
• I even found some empathy for him as I remembered a time when I had to fly home on two separate flights with a terrible cold and pockets full of Kleenex. I likely triggered similar feelings with my seat mates.

Your Infectiousness

Our coughing, sniffling and sneezing are obvious signals to both ourselves and others that we’re potentially infecting others.  As a leader, your attitudes are just as infectious. They are more easily spread.   Your anger, enthusiasm, skepticism and fear have a gripping effect on the people around you.  Your attitude and expressions of emotion are highly infectious and can easily go viral within your team and organization.

Health care workers and others who know they are being exposed to harmful germs or bacteria will wear masks for their protection. If you’re the source of the potential infection, this is a visual reminder of the potential danger you pose.  When the people you lead know they are being exposed to potentially toxic doses of your attitude, they put on their invisible masks. There may be some signs of this. But you need to learn to recognize them.  More often, you’re unaware of how contagious you are. So I’ll repeat my question:

What are People Catching from You?

Don’t Be That Leader!

The late Zig Ziglar spoke about the diminishing effects of negativity.  He described a negative person who had the ability to “instantly brighten up a room: by leaving it.” 

Such negative people are oblivious to their infectiousness. Are you? What should people be catching from you?

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