Motivating yourself and those in your company is one of the most important things that a leader can do. Unfortunately, staying motivated can be difficult and losing ones motivation is all too easy. Day to day problems can sap ones motivation and can distract one from longer term issues of greater importance.
There was recently a “Get Motivated” seminar in St. Louis. It was a day filled with some exceptional public speakers. Colin Powell, Laura Bush, and George Foreman among others. While I didn’t attend this year, I have attended in the past. The problem with this or any one day motivational event is how it plays out in the days and weeks after the event. Getting motivated is one thing . . . staying motivated is quite another.
It is a rare few who don’t struggle with motivation from time to time. But it is Memorial Day weekend and in St. Louis it looks like it might quit raining long enough that I can stop building my ark. That fact alone is helping my motivation level.
It important to have sources of motivation that one can tap from time to time. I have twice had the opportunity to visit the United States Military Academy at West Point to run as a civilian behind the teams participating in the Sandhurst Military Skills competition. Both times were exceptional experiences. There are few places on earth as motivated as our nation’s military academies. As spring turns to summer I have the opportunity to work out three mornings a week in the company of nearly two dozen highly motivated men and women who are training with the St. Louis Military Officer Support Foundation. Each of these young men and women are either presently in one of the academies, will be entering in the fall, or are recent graduates already serving our country and home on leave. It is an exceptional group to be among. It’s hard not to give your best when you are surrounded by others who are.
My point is simple, whatever your source of motivation it’s important to find a way to maintain your motivational levels and replenish them as needed.
As you head back to the office after the brief Memorial Day break, ask yourself if you are working with a motivated group of people? Are you leading by example and providing the motivational spark needed for yourself and those around you? What sources of motivation can you find that will bring a lasting effect?
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Ken Homza
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