It’s easy to be positive in a positive environment. It’s when things are emotionally draining that you’re challenged to behave differently. But you have the opportunity to be the beacon of light for others around you. By your actions and responses, you can demonstrate how to behave in an appropriate, positive and professional manner.

Positive energy catches on just as quickly as negative energy. Sometimes people are simply stuck in a habit and are accustomed to acting a certain way. If the environment is really caustic, then it’s what people are used to and may be all they know. You must be willing to identify and stop tolerating what’s not working, do the right thing even if it’s initially unpopular and then teach others to do the same.

Here are five ways you can be a positive force in your workplace:

The first step is awareness

Recognise the negativity around you. Sometimes you can feel your energy being drained. If it feels bad or uncomfortable, then it’s negative. These feelings are a form of intelligence similar to a tap on the shoulder letting you know something is not right.

It all starts with you

In what ways are you contributing to the negativity around you? Are you listening to gossip or participating in conversations where the only focus is to denigrate, diminish, or criticise? Language matters. Everything you say has an impact, and when you say something negative, not only does it dishonour the person you’re speaking about as well as the person you’re speaking to, it makes you feel bad too, even if you don’t realise it. Learn to respect people’s humanity and their right to be themselves.

Speak up

Tell the other person how you feel by saying, “This doesn’t work for me.” It’s non-judgmental, since you’re making it about you, not them. People often don’t realise they are being negative. Point it out in a gentle way: “Do you realise you are complaining?” Just bringing it to their attention can be enough.

Be constructive, positive, meaningful and beneficial

What is the point or purpose of what you’re saying? Is it to hurt or help? And at the end of the conversation, is there an action step to take? Constructive conversations are empowering and leave people a little better off from having participated in them. Become the kind of person who takes your time and words seriously.

Praise and acknowledge

It’s amazing what a few words of praise and acknowledgement can do. You want to be the kind of person people gravitate to because they know they will be uplifted by you, not put down or drained of life-sustaining energy. In short, you want people to feel good after being in your presence.

No matter what is going on around you, you control your inner environment and how you choose to respond to external events and situations. It’s your responsibility to become the kind of person you enjoy being and whom others enjoy being with.

It takes a true leader to walk a path different from the crowd. So when others are negative, stretch your boldness muscles and be positive in spite of what others do or think. It’s the only way to create a ripple of change. And if each of us does our part, then slowly but surely, we will make a difference in our work environment and the larger community.