The Longing for Inspiration
History shows that in almost every arena there is a vacuum waiting to be filled by some person who can impart vision and steer people's energies into the best endeavors.
Some leaders assume that people are basically lazy and do not want to be inspired. That assumption can be heard in sales managers voices when they say that nothing seems to build a fire under their sales people, or in a teacher's lament, "harry is just not motivated!"
"But there is no such thing as an unmotivated person say R.J. Wlodkowski, a professor of education at the university of Wisconsin. "it is more accurate to say, "Harry is not motivated to learn with me." For Harry will spring out of bed at three o'clock on the morning of a fishing trip and display plenty of motivation. Watching factory workers hurry out of a parking lot at the end of the shift quickly dispels any notion that they are inherently lazy. They are in a rush to get to evening activities, some of which will probably be more taxing than anything they have done at the factory.
So the leader's challenge is not to take lazy people and transform them into industrious types. Rather it is to channel already existing energies into the most worthwhile endeavors. People do not like being lethargic and bored. They will welcome the manager who can teach them to enjoy their work, or the teacher who will impart to them a love of learning that causes the school day to go swiftly.
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