“Your energy, enjoyment, drive and determination will stimulate and greatly inspire others.” John Wooden. With 30 seconds to go in a league game against our bitter rivals we were down by 6 points and our team captain was standing with his hands on his knees, utterly spent. He had nothing left to give. Only two minutes previously we were down 20 points and our opponents looked like they were getting a comfortable win. Our captain’s effort, his tenacity and his will inspired the rest of the team to suddenly wake up and go for it. With a nothing to lose attitude the team left everything on the floor. We did not win the game, but because of our captain’s infectious enthusiasm we scared our opponents and made them work for the victory. We may not have won the game, but I was very proud of our players. Their attitude was faultless and although the scoreline reflected a loss, we left the court as winners in our own eyes. We showed character, grit and determination. We mirrored the enthusiasm of our captain. In all walks of life it is important to tackle everything with a level of enthusiasm that will inspire others to act. Enthusiasm is the antidote for apathy. It quashes negativity. It outlasts laziness. The Cambridge dictionary describes enthusiasm as, “an energetic interest in a particular subject or activity and an eagerness to be involved in it.” The key words for me in this definition is that enthusiasm involves energy and an eagerness. When you are enthusiastic towards something it shows a genuine interest, you are giving respect to whatever it is that you are being enthusiastic about. You are positively affirming not only the activity, but your involvement in the activity. This positivity is infectious and you can and will draw others into your enthusiasm. We have all had those down in the dumps bosses, who literally suck the life out of everything. They make work a chore, everything has a negative slant to it, nothing is interesting and all work is boring and unsatisfying. As much as this is true I am sure that we have all had those bosses who make everything achievable, you gladly go the extra mile and you do it with a smile. The difference in these two types of leader is the display of enthusiasm. It truly is transformative. John Wooden taught his teams to be enthusiastic, by being passionate towards how he coached the game. However he also engendered his self propelling energy to his teams by influencing their behaviours so that his teams became self perpetuating enthusiasm machines. Small things like running into timeouts (a stop in play in basketball to discuss strategy), or never being late, or learning to complete each drill correctly, how to behave in practice and in games and how to communicate effectively with team-mates. Like it benefitted his teams on the basketball court enthusiasm can benefit you at work, home or at play in a range of different ways. However you have to be careful, mindful and attentive in order to create and nurture an enthusiastic environment. Enthusiasm Needs Energy but it Creates Energy You know you have all been there….sitting looking at your computer, about to start a piece of work, however you find loads of other things to do instead of starting the work you need to do. Procrastinating in this way is very normal and is difficult to avoid unless you have some motivation to get started, like a deadline. However once you overcome the procrastination and get stuck into the work you often find yourself engrossed, enjoying what you are doing and ploughing your way through it. When faced with something you think you will find boring or uninteresting your enthusiasm wanes. To be productive in work you need to give your enthusiasm some fuel to get you going, however once you get going and you get into the activity your enthusiasm can become self perpetuating. Daringtolivefully.com suggests you, ‘Make sure that you have the physical energy to be able to generate lots of enthusiasm by getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, and getting regular exercise.’ Other ways to fuel enthusiasm is to find something in the work you are doing that you are curious to find out about or test, you can motivate yourself by setting goals, have prizes for reaching goals like a cup of tea or a walk outside, or the promise of some more interesting work later in the day once the boring stuff is completed. Also think about the motivation to exercise. I know I struggle to find the energy to exercise, however I always feel so much better after I do exercise, and strangely seem to have more energy!!!! Once you get into a run of three or four days exercise it seems easier to motivate yourself to do more exercise, again the enthusiasm for the task starts to self perpetuate. Once I am doing my workout I enjoy it, it is getting going that we all find difficult. Again you have all probably experienced the same as me, that once you get some momentum it is a lot easier to keep going. For me as a dad of three girls I have often struggled to get enthusiastic about playing with dolls, or tea parties or princess games. However I realise that it is so important for my daughter's development that I do it. By playing make believe games like this it is helping them develop their imagination and problem solving abilities. It helps teach them how to socialise properly and allows them to learn to be more empathetic towards others. As in the examples above once I get into the games it is hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm displayed by my girls and before I know it I am have a great time drinking imaginary tea and talking about how the princesses unicorn got stolen by the naughty troll. I really feed off the energy of my girls and once I lose my inhibitions and engage with them fully I can see them buzzing off me being involved. It is amazing. Enthusiasm Creates Momentum So as has been described above enthusiasm creates momentum. It helps build a head of steam, it creates a dynamic atmosphere that allows other people to come along for the ride. I have seen this a lot in team settings at work and in sports. More often than not the team outwardly displaying an enthusiasm for the sport in which they are taking part tend to be the victors. Enthusiasm can enhance performance and can help players build positive momentum. I have been in meeting rooms buzzing with excitement as colleagues are bouncing ideas back and forth, problem solving and moving the project forward. The enthusiasm to complete the task/project is palpable. There is a positive energy that is infectious and can spread throughout a team like wild fire. There are a number of factors that influence this growth and development of an enthusiastic atmosphere. There must be a no blame culture, team members have to feel included and involved. it must be a ridicule free zone and communications need to open, honest and non-confrontational. There are no silly answers, there is no judgement. Any and all inputs into meeting or the activity are valid and worthy of discussion. Enthusiasm Needs to be Nurtured The important thing to note is that even though enthusiasm can catch fire and allow you and teammates to work at a high rate in a state of positivity and togetherness, this can all be undone very easily and very quickly. Negativity can kill enthusiasm in an instant and can make it very hard to recover. In team sports one dissenting voice can destroy the positivity and enthusiasm of a team. The same can be said in an office environment. In a marriage or partnership negative quips, snide remarks or sarcastic humour can very quickly lead to a breakdown in the relationship. Enthusiasm therefore needs to be nurtured. This is done by developing positive cultural norms that are widely accepted and practiced. These cultural norms can include body language, reactions to situations, verbal communications, generally how you treat one another. To instill and maintain a positive culture the whole organisation needs to buy into it and all levels of the organisation need to live within this culture, no person is exempt. Even the big boss(es). Everyone is accountable, everyone has a role to play, everyone has a responsibility to ensure the culture continues to develop and grow. Everyone is personally responsible for putting in the required practices that will allow for a positive and enthusiastic culture, be it at home, at play or in the office. So please go out there into your lives and inspire others by your actions, show off your determination, energy and drive. Create a microclimate of positivity around you that will influence those around you to do the same. Peace and happiness people.
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AuthorMy name is Andy Smyth, I have spent the last decade working in the field of Sports Development, where I have had the pleasure of working to grow leaders within local community sports clubs in Scotland. Archives
August 2017
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