Alan has been giving “All-Hands” presentations to the 1500 people that report to him. His organization has over 80,000 people. They’re currently getting hammered in the news. The company has been struggling, trying to recover from mistakes made by the then-CEO five years ago. Unfortunately, they’ve just had to announce layoffs. There’s a tremendous amount of re-organization and re-shuffling happening. Where people will land is up in the air. The future of the organization is uncertain and morale is at an all-time low.
Alan’s group has been the only one that’s been inspired. Why are they inspired? In the midst of all this, there is one reason only: Alan is inspiring them.
This wasn’t always the case.
When Alan came to me for coaching, his desperate “pep talks” had been falling flat. Alan said, “If I don’t inspire them, I’ve lost them. I need them inspired, aligned, engaged, and enthusiastic. I know it’s impossible, but I need them to stop listening to the news, to tune out what’s happening in the rest of the organization and focus on what we need to be doing. I haven’t been able to get them to see it, but I know we can make a difference.”
That’s a difficult assignment when the only conversation in the halls is the latest trash in the news, who got laid off, who’s afraid of getting laid off, how all the “good people” are leaving, the shattered trust in management and loss of faith in the vision.
Alan wanted to be MORE than just understood. That wasn’t enough. He wanted to inspire. Many people who come to me for coaching want that.
It’s an important ability for a leader to have, at any time.
Inspire comes from the Latin inspirare which meant to breathe new life into.
It still means that. And that’s exactly what you’re doing when you inspire, you bring new life, you bring them to life, you animate them, you make them feel energized. And the people that you inspire FEEL much more alive as a result.
How do you do it?
Yes, you present the information you want to present. Yes, you present the outcome you hope to achieve. Yes, you present the path to get there. Yes, you give a “call to action” and tell them what you want them to do.
However, most corporate presentations start and stop there.
Logic, logic, logic, logic.
I’m not saying logic is bad. I will say that by itself, it can leave the heart dead and cold.
It’s no coincidence that inspire and spirit come from the same root and foundation in the Latin word spirare.
And that is what you’re reaching: the human spirit. Which is beyond logic. Which creates logic. Which creates new logic. Which creates new worlds.
Inspiration is about kindling a fire in hearts and spirits. Inspiration is invigorating, energizing.
Here’s the path to it. You must infuse others with the 4 essentials that breathe life into the human spirit. Infuse means to fill every part. You don’t just communicate these essentials, you infuse others completely with them, fill every part with these essentials.
The 4 essential elements of inspiration are: purpose, hope, imagination and courage.
When you infuse others with purpose, hope, imagination and courage … stand back.
Even if you only need to inspire yourself, these are the 4 essentials to infuse yourself with.
Alan learned all this during a coaching session. And then he breathed new life into the group of 1500 reporting to him and transformed their morale. It doesn’t take long once you know how.
Alan was able to turn the ship around and inspire them in one presentation, and then took it even higher and higher from there.
Even better, his group is now inspiring the rest of the organization. It’s catching on. Inspiration travels fast. It’s changing the organization, how they work, how they create the future. How they feel about it all. It’s building a new organization from within.
Alan talked about purpose, not in corporate terms, but in human terms. Real purpose. Purpose they could get behind. Purpose is the strongest motivating force humans experience. Motivation and passion will be equal to a real sense of purpose.
Alan gave them hope. Not a corporate “Rah-Rah” speech filled with fake enthusiasm. He built a new reality with his words, showed them it was in their hands, made them believe, made them hope again. At first a glimmer, then a flame. Real hope.
Alan got them to imagine the future. He got them to imagine the path and what would happen. He captured their imaginations. Suddenly the vision was taking on three colorful dimensions.
And then Alan gave them courage. Courage is an attitude of facing and dealing with anything recognized as dangerous, difficult or painful instead of withdrawing from it. The word courage comes from the Latin word cor which means heart. Courage comes from your heart.
Alan was purposeful about how he went about infusing his audience with these four essentials. He brought purpose, hope, imagination and courage to life within each of them.
When you’re inspiring, you’re not giving your audience something. You’re not putting something into them. You’re breathing new life into something that’s already there.
One of the reasons those who train here see such success is because I and my team recognize what is already there inside a person: a magnificent being who only needs to be truly seen to be awakened.
Many people who are trying to be inspiring are heavy-handed, they have a touch that is far too heavy. It is the lightest of touches that awakens people. It is recognition, not force. When you really grasp that, it will take you to a new level of communication, a new level of ability to reach people, to reach the human spirit, with your words.
It unlocks a whole new world.
It’s always your choice – whether you live “in the real world” with all the “normal” people who have learned how to “face reality” and are “practical”. Those who don’t set their expectations too high because they “don’t want to be disappointed”. Those who depend on others for inspiration and, if it doesn’t come, lead uninspired and unsatisfied lives.
Or whether you tap into the power you have within to inspire others, to lead them, to create the future, to change the world when you speak. To create real happiness.
Do you have any idea just how much power you hold within yourself, even now? Even as you read this simple message?
Alan didn’t know. Until he was shown. Until he was given a method to activate it and put it to use. And that made all the difference. From there, his life, and the lives of the 1500 he inspired were never the same.
Be the cause!