Attitude: the great intangible

We once had a very talented reporter who basically shot herself more than Plaxico Burress. My agita would go up whenever I saw her heading for my office, since I knew some sort of complaint was coming. The funny thing was, the complaints were of a bizarre nature that usually had nothing to do with journalism, everything from the architecture of the newsroom to the types of reporter notebooks we stocked.

Well, lo and behold, management pretty much cracked a bottle of champagne when this gal left.

And, lo and behold, she needed a favor a couple of years later.

Funny, I still haven't returned her calls.

Another guy repeatedly ripped me to upper management, then called me when he found himself out of a job. He left a tearful message, begging for help and asking me to call as soon as possible.

He can turn blue like those people in Avatar waiting for that to happen.

Bottom line, attitude is the great equalizer. If I'm a News Director and I've got an opening with two qualified candidates, and one is a pain while the other is never a problem, guess who's gonna get the job? Even if the one who is difficult has more talent, more often than not, a ND doesn't want to create an even bigger problem.

Why? Well, psychologically, if someone is a pain and gets promoted, you're basically rewarding bad behavior.

If you don't promote that person, you're sending a subtle message that said behavior isn't doing much for that person's career.

I've noticed over the years that people in their first or second jobs complain the most. They jump for joy when you give them that first gig, and within months they hate the job they wanted so desperately.

If you've been passed over, and you have a bad attitude, the answer might be in your mirror.