Lured by desire deterred by duty

I wonder if you have ever taken the lead to drive an idea to reality and found that the enthusiasm and action you require from others is waning?

Here is the leadership opportunity that is embedded in every activity. First you begin by leading yourself and, if there are others involved, you must lead them... but only if you want them to help you achieve what you want!

Whether you have a corporate agenda or are driving a community or family idea, the rules of the game are the same.

Your potential win may mean everyone wins, but if it is you driving the idea, then others first must see the potential win for themselves if they are to enter the game and... stay in it.

Of course, you know all this, it may seem like textbook management. However, my stance is that you manage processes and you lead people. It is knowing how to lead and get the result you want that is key. Leading is not a one-off interaction with others blindly following, it requires constant monitoring.

People do not mean for their enthusiasm to wane, they may not even understand it themselves. If you have ever been excited about promoting an idea, then find at the time of picking up the phone to connect your enthusiasm wanes, then you know what I mean. Acting on an idea often looks easier from a distance, the closeness of action is another thing.

People may appear to be complex chameleons, slippery creatures who don't always stick to what they say they want to do and actually do it. Their enthusiasm wanes based on a variety of factors, especially their emotional resilience, which has a tremendous impact on motivation.

If you consider how complex you are, you will appreciate that others are as well! They are driven from deep within and so oftentimes, immediate reaction is a shallow representation of many filters of experience, and often because of how they feel!

So it is from an unconscious level that motivation and enthusiasm is sourced. It seems appropriate then, that you best look deeper than a person's behaviour to find out what they want... enter desire versus duty.

Imagine for a moment you know you must do something out of duty that you are not really happy to do. How engaged are you? How rapidly do you respond? If you respond rapidly, is that because you want to get it over and done with, you endure it and smile through the process?

Conversely, imagine you really desire to do something and cannot wait to get started. How engaged are you? How rapidly do you get started? Do you even need to think about doing it?

Please know that I am not for one moment suggesting that is is a clear choice between desire and duty, nor am I suggesting that the issue is not complex.

What I am suggesting is that if you have a clear feeling of struggle from imagining the duty scenario and a clear feeling of ease from the desire scenario, then how can you expect others to join the flow of your enthusiasm if you are not clear what enthuses them and what they perceive as desire and duty?

Duty is easy if the duty leads to a desirable outcome, it is a struggle if it is linked to dread, boredom or have to do!

Imagine having others as focused and enthusiastic as you, motivated for their own end? Everyone wins!

You know this, though you may sometimes forget and I am here to remind you by being a catalyst for your brilliance.

These monthly grabs are created to be useful, to get you questioning how you are being your best and to give you an insight into my approach to getting new perspectives.

Until next month do your duty from desire and create a flow of enthusiasm!

Noelene Dawes

Noelene Dawes leads people through the pressures of evolving within a business environment of continuous change. This means Being Decisive, Being Influential and Getting Results.

Noelene's profile Testimonials