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Ask HN: Do you think attitude is important asset for your career?
4 points by undefinednull 2069 days ago
Recently, I have been reading /discussing a lot about why having an attitude is important and how it helps you as an individual. But how important do you think that it is essential for your career.
4 comments

When you say "having an attitude", is that in derogatory term? Or having an attitude that's good, happy, motivating, etc?

I've been passed for promotion for positions that I clearly qualified for because I was too happy, yup, you read that right. Then I've also been promoted despite the fact that I clearly didn't give a shit. Honestly, I don't really know anymore. I rather just be helpful and nice to others, it makes me feel better.

Attitude is what I like to think of as a qualitative marker for success. The defintion of attitude is quite nuanced. Attitude determines how you go about actions that can make or break your career.

I wrote about this in https://leveragethoughts.substack.com/p/what-is-excellence

The inverse of this can also be true - probably even a vicious cycle.

I used to have a great attitude. I was eager to learn, humble, willing to put in extra work, and wanted the respect and pay that would come with promotions.

Over the past few years I have become jaded by the company passing me over, screwing me over, the double speak, the double standards, and even the outright lies they've told. This has destroyed my old perspective/attitude. I pretty much put in the minimum hours and view everything they say as if it is a lie or a trap. I say pretty much, because I do still have an innate desire to finish things I start and to do a quality job (at any job I've had, and at home). This internal struggle is probably the most painful part of the experience.

You discussed a lot but brought nothing to discuss, not even what you mean by attitude. That's a clear lack of attitude, or "proactivity". But not always been proactive is good, because you can do a lot of things the wrong way. So it definitely is a great asset combined with competence.
Absolutely. If you don't have a good attitude, you can't learn anything and no one will trust you with any responsibility.

Where I'm from, "having an attitude" actually means you have a bad attitude. You should say "having a good attitude." :)

It’s same where I’m from, but I wonder if an attitude that is good for the employee would be viewed as a bad attitude from the perspective of the employer.

I suspect this is true at many workplaces.