On the Subject of Inspiration, Motivation and Leadership
By Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
I have been doing a lot of thinking recently on the subject of Inspiration and Motivation. The trigger for this has been the course I currently deliver on Leadership for first and second line managers in a public sector organisation. I started the course by asking the participants ‘What about leadership you want to know?’ and for one participant it was: ‘How do you motivate people?’ Now my intention at the end of the course is to go back to the list that the group came up with in regards to what they wanted out of the course and to check if their expectations have been met. To be perfectly frank the one that I have the most concern with was the question ‘How do you motivate people’ hence the thought journey I have been on.
A few hours ago I went to the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank to listen to a lecture by Wole Soyinka, a writer, philosopher, playwright, political activist and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. I left the lecture still processing Soyinka’s speech and some of the questions posed afterwards and walked along the South Bank of the river Thames in order to reflect on the experience I had just had. Several thoughts came to mind during this period of reflection.
Firstly it’s a shame I went to the lecture on my own because I had two complimentary tickets and it would have been beneficial for others to have heard this lecture. Secondly it was actually great that I went on my own because this meant I had some quality me time - something I am working hard to include in my life. In my reflection I found myself feeling very inspired by Soyinka and what he had spoken about. For a start I was impressed by his charisma...there is a certain indefinable quality in the man that draws you in, no doubt helped by his shock of grey hair and matching grey goatee. Coincidentally this is one of the key qualities that people want in their leaders.
I also found myself thinking about the meanings of the terms ‘Inspiration’ and ‘Motivation’. If inspiration is about feeling, then motivation is about being moved to action. The two terms are often used together and sometimes interchangeably and no wonder. In order to motivate someone you have got to first make them feel an emotion and that emotion they feel can be so strong that it encourages them to take action. As a personal coach my slogan is ‘Take Action...Create Results Now’ so the word Action has a lot of meaning for me. If you have been motivated by someone then they move you to get from Point A to Point B. What has Soyinka’s lecture inspired me to want to do?
Firstly it’s reminded me of my love of literature, in particular literature written by Black people all over the globe. In my life I have been particularly inspired by the books I have read and some books have motivated me to take action in particular areas of my life, Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen’s ‘One Minute Millionaire’ being one such example. My favourite writer of all time however is Maya Angelou whose autobiographical series speaks to my soul. The action I now feel inspired to take is to set up a cultural group ( for want of a better term) that will meet up regularly to discuss books by black authors, ( and I use black in its political sense to mean all people of colour), watch and discuss films, poetry, plays and in fact anything that’s culturally exciting. Soyinka’s lecture was on the theme of Civilization and a particular focus on how some civilizations are not only denigrated but are being destroyed. A part of me felt some ashamed of the limited knowledge I have of my own particular civilization (being Ghanaian) and less still of other African and black civilizations. For me this cultural group would be one way of me redressing that balance in my life and possibly the life of others.
Coming back to the subject of how leaders in the workplace motivate staff my current thoughts are sadly not ground breaking and indeed not new. To be able to motivate others you have got to be motivated yourself. This begs another question ‘How do you become and stay motivated’? I will suggest you become really curious about those times in your life when you have felt particularly inspired and motivated. For me I have realised that particular books have a huge motivating influence on me and as I discovered a few hours so do the writers of books when they have the presence and charisma that Wole Soyinka has. There is a saying attributed to Zig Ziglar that I find very apt:
‘Motivation is like bathing. That’s why we recommend it every day’.
What’s your source of motivation going to be today?
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