Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm

The first half dozen people I hired as strategic technology consultants for my new office in London didn’t work out. Each of them had come from IBM and knew how to sell computers, but they didn’t have the foggiest idea about how to sell or deliver consulting services. They knew the tools but not how to use them strategically. Then Bob was referred to me for a job interview; he’d run a computer shop for an oil company in Calgary. He knew nothing about consulting. My initial instinct was to end the interview as soon as I could and gracefully exit so I could get back to finding more qualified candidates.

As we talked, I realized Bob had something my first six international hires didn’t have. He had enthusiasm. It was infectious, palpable, and as he talked about wanting to change careers and make a contribution in management consulting rather than run an IS shop for a small company, I started to believe he could do it. Our half hour interview became half the afternoon as we traded thoughts on the new endeavor we had started in Europe. Soon after our meeting I offered Bob a job and he took it.

What made the difference? His ENTHUSIASM.

Bob became a very successful management consultant able to both sell and deliver consulting services all over the world. His clients loved him and even today, over twenty years later, some of them still call him for advice, study and counsel on their business situation.

Over the ensuing years, I learned that I’d rather have an ounce of Enthusiasm than a pound of qualifications. I might add that while you can be enthusiastic about life, I’m not sure that I ever knew anyone that was enthusiastic about everything and everybody all the time.
You know when someone is enthusiastic about something. They can barely contain themselves – and even if they try, their passion for whatever the subject is bubbles up over the top. They’re the people that can’t wait for the day to start, can’t wait to see the next challenge, and can’t wait to try ‘it’ out. They consistently turn adversity into advantage. You don’t have to jump and shout like a high school cheerleader; you only need to express what you feel.

The word ‘Enthusiasm’ has its roots in Greek ‘en-theism’ meaning ‘inspired; in or of God’. A person possessed by God, religious inspiration, fervor or emotion. Only in the past century did the word lose the spiritual overtones attached to it. Often today, the term passion is used synonymously. Other related terms we use for someone that is enthusiastic include self-actualizing, persistent, dedicated, creative, energetic and so forth. An enthusiastic person is all these.

How can we become enthusiastic about something or somebody? Here are five actions to get and stay enthusiastic that I’ve used over the past thirty years I’ve studied the subject. There are probably many others but for me these seemed to work better and with longer-term impact than others.

Develop a curiosity about everything. Like Steve Jobs taking random college courses that ended up vital when he started Apple, you never know when something you learned through you curiosity will contribute to your own self-actualization. I once studied aviation and oceanography although they had nothing to do with my job; soon after in my career both unexpectedly become instrumental to my work and success. I had an enthusiasm for these subjects no one else had. Even though I’ve schooled myself about this, I still have to remind myself to take an interest in each new person, place or thing; I know there’ll be something there of value.

Do what you love; you’ll love what you do. I can’t imagine being passionate for something you don’t like. I was passionate about teaching yet the company I worked for couldn’t see me doing that for them. On the day of my tenth anniversary with them I quit without any promise of a further job; the company was a barrier to letting my enthusiasm loose in an area I loved. Only days after I left my whole future changed in a way that included teaching in a major way. I created a whole new experience for myself that I loved – that I enthused about.

Take risks. Be willing to get outside your comfort zone. Enthusiastic people find that many of the risks they take payoff for them. Taking steps into new territory can bring great happiness and reward. Meet new people; form new relationships; try new things; explore new areas. All will help you develop enthusiasm that in turn will let you be more interested in doing these things. Get out of your comfort zone.

Act “As If” you already are enthusiastic. As the old adage goes, “Fake it, ‘til you make it.” If you can feign enthusiasm then what follows is the real emotion. I once had a client that was not the kind of person I really wanted to work with; nonetheless I pretended I had the enthusiasm to work with him. After a short time, not only did I produce some great work for him but he also brought me into his ‘inner circle’ because I was so enthusiastic about his company’s success. In the end he became a good friend.

Do something. Take action. Pump energy into your life. The odds are you won’t find the enthusiasm you seek by sitting on your butt and waiting for the enthusiasm muse to strike. If you take some action you’ll find you can move beyond whatever blockage you think you face and start to find the enthusiasm to move ahead. Writers facing ‘writer’s block’ keep writing. I can’t say I ever remember a day of ‘consultant’s block’; each day we just kept doing what we knew gave us pleasure – delivering value to our clients. If we lugged down, we’d pump some more energy into what we were doing and things would always turn around.
Lastly, and as an umbrella to all the actions you might take to “pump yourself up” I recommend a heavy dose of spirituality. I’m constantly comforted and become more “inspired and in and of God,” when I work through the precepts that I am a spiritual being having a human experience, that God is all there is, that I co-create my existence with the God force and if I am willing to listen, I can find some guidance in that force. There is a flow to the Universe that I can ride in; it will enthuse me and benefit me. I just need to go with God, or as we say ‘Let go and let God.”

Vaya con Dios

This newsletter is to stimulate your spiritual thinking in the hope that it will contribute to your spiritual growth. The essays are not meant to be complete treatises on the subject, only short papers to stimulate your thinking. The author invites your comments and critiques by reply e-mail to bob@futuremoons.com.