Sunday, April 24, 2005

coping - Martin Seligman

coping - Martin Seligman: "coping - Martin Seligman
'How you handle adversity in the workplace tends to have much more impact on your career than how you handle the good stuff.' "

from FastCopmpany, December, 1998

. . . While studying the performance of players and managers in Major League Baseball, and of players and coaches in the National Basketball Association, Seligman found a remarkable correlation: Optimistic teams -- as measured by how they talk about their performance in the sports press -- play better under pressure than do pessimistic teams. For Seligman, the finding marked a new way to think about competition, work, and life. "For my whole life, the field of psychology has concentrated on correcting what's wrong," says Seligman. "But rather than trying to minimize what's worst in life, we should maximize what's best."

Seligman developed the concept of "learned optimism" -- and applied it directly to workplace productivity. "When pessimistic people run into obstacles in the workplace, in relationships, or in sports, they give up," he says. "When optimistic people encounter obstacles, they try harder. They go the extra mile."

What is Seligman's advice on learning to be optimistic? . . .

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