You Don't Need a "Bad Apple"

Negativity isn’t just annoying and hurtful to relationships. It quietly splinters your team or family’s effectiveness.

Researchers studied the Bad Apple Effect. They found that adding just one negative person to a group had alarming effects.

• Team performance dropped by up to 40 percent.

• Quality of work decreased by 25 percent.

• Conflicts and disagreements increased by 50 percent.

The study identified three common types of bad apples:

The Jerk: Aggressive and demeaning.
The Slacker: Lazy and unmotivated.
The Depressive Pessimist: Constantly negative and demoralizing.

This begs the question: While you might be working on being more positive, what do you do when you spend time with someone who isn’t?

Most people opt to give them feedback, but this rarely fixes the issue because it's reactive. Instead, proactive leadership is required.

Remember, beliefs drive actions, and actions produce results. Your job as a leader is to proactively shape and communicate clear, positive standards about what your team or family believes and values.

Don’t wait for negativity to show up. Proactively cultivate optimism, accountability, and energy every single day.

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