PASSION INCREASES WILLPOWER

One of my roles as a motivational teacher is to try to help people reach their potential. For years, I tried to inspire passion in audiences by going about it the wrong way. I used to tell people about what made me passionate, what made me want to get out and do my best. But I could see that it wasn’t having the effect I desired – people just didn’t respond. I couldn’t ignite others’ passion by sharing my own.

I decided to change my focus. Instead of sharing my passion, I started helping others discover their passion. To do that, I ask these questions:

·     What do you sing about?

·     What do you cry about?

·     What do you dream about?

The first two questions speak to what touches you at a deep level today. The third answers what will bring you fulfillment tomorrow. The answers to these questions can often help people discover their true passion.

While everybody can possess passion, not everyone takes the time to discover it. And that’s a shame. Passion is fuel for the will. Passion turns your have-to’s into want-to’s. What we accomplish in life is based less on what we want-to’s. What we accomplish in life is based less on what we want and more on how much we want it. The secret to willpower is what someone once called wantpower. People who want something enough usually find the willpower to achieve it.

You can’t help people become winners unless they want to win. Champions become champions from within, not from without.

Ask people on your team what they sing, cry, and dream about.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP

When I began my leadership career, I was very ineffective as a leader. I believed I had talent. But when I got into the real world, I fell far short of my expectations. How did I turn things around? By making small decisions that were difficult. With each one, I gained more confidence and more courage, and I began to change. The process took me four years. At the end of that time, I had learned many valuable lessons, and I wrote the following to help me cement what I had learned:

Courageous Leadership Simply Means I’ve Developed:

1. Convictions that are stronger than my fears.

2. Vision that is clearer than my doubts.

3. Spiritual sensitivity that is louder than popular opinion.

4. Self-esteem that is deeper than self-protection.

5. Appreciation for discipline that is greater than my desire for leisure.

6. Dissatisfaction that is more forceful than the status quo.

7. Poise that is more unshakeable than panic.

8. Risk taking that is stronger than safety seeking.

9. Right actions that are more robust than rationalization.

10. A desire to see potential reached more than to see people appeased.

You don’t have to be great to become a person of courage. You just need to want to reach your potential and to be willing to trade what seems good in the moment for what’s best for your potential. That’s something you can do regardless of your level of natural talent.

Make a small decision today that will increase your confidence and leadership courage.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

VISION

My observation over the last twenty years has been that all effective leaders have a vision of what they must accomplish. That vision becomes the energy behind every effort and the force that pushes through all the problems. With vision, the leader is on a mission and a contagious spirit is felt among the crowd until others begin to rise alongside the leader. Unity is essential for the dream to be realized. Long hours of labor are given gladly to accomplish the goal. Individual rights are set aside because the whole is much more important than the part. Time flies, morale soars upward, heroic stories are told, and commitment is the watchword. Why? Because the leader has a vision!

The word vision has perhaps been overused in the past few years. The first goal of many a management workshop is to develop a statement of purpose for the organization. Others will look at you oddly if you cannot recite your organization’s purpose by memory and produce a card with the statement of purpose printed on it.

Why all the pressure to develop a purpose for your organization? There are two reasons. First, vision becomes the distinctive, rallying cry of the organization. It is a clear statement in a competitive market that you have an important niche among all the voices clamoring for customers. It is your real reason for existence. Second, vision becomes the new control tool, replacing the 1,000-page manual that is boxy and constrains initiative. In an age when decentralization all the way to the front line is required to survive, the vision is the key that keeps everyone focused.

Rely on vision instead of rules and procedures to guide you and your team.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.