Archive for January, 2011
What inspires you to get up out of that chair?
Jan 26th
The ability to motivate yourself is the key to achieving your goals and while we can get a lot of help from those around us to spur us on we all have different triggers that can kick start us. I find different pieces of music can help me focus, concentrate and finish what I start. For example listening to classical music helps me rattle through a variety of tasks thus leaving me with a great sense of satisfaction when I cross off a long list of items from my “to do” list.
The following song by Pink Floyd never fails to inspire me to make a start on something instead of procrastinating:
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say
“We don’t have an eternity to realize our dreams, only the time we are here.” ~ Susan Taylor
What makes you get up out of your chair?
Inspirational figures
Jan 20th
I was running a course this week with a group of managers about creating a coaching culture in their workplace, and we were talking about role model behaviour. One of the examples used was Bill Shankly and how his values not only inspired a group of players but a whole city.
At the end of the day one of the managers came over and shared a story with me about her husband who had been in hospital in the early 70′s recovering from a cartilage operation. Also in the ward with him was a Manchester United player who was visited by Matt Busby. While he was there Matt said hello to the manager’s husband Jim and asked why he was in hospital and wished him well before leaving.
- Sir Matt Busby
Five years later Jim was queuing up outside Old Trafford for a game when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a smiling Matt Busby who said “Alright Jim, how’s the knee?”
Obviously Jim was really touched that Matt Busby not only remembered him but also remembered what he had been in the hospital.
I think this is a small example of what makes a manager great, the ability to make people feel valued.
Contrast this with another manager I know of who gets to the office in the morning and immediately sits down to deal with their e-mails and post. How much value could they have by taking a few minutes to talk to the people they manage, not only talk but also listen to?
Which people inspire you and what do they do to demonstrate their values?
