Losing Motivation? Focus on the Desired Future

Whether we are sharing our ideas, listening to another, making a decision, or solving a problem for our people, we express our leadership every moment.

This is why it is so important to be aware, alert, and refreshed, to be in our best place to inspire our teams and the customers and communities we serve.

Taking care of our selves for mental clarity is one of our most important daily practices.

Like or not, our thinking of the future eventually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy (whether it is thinking big, small, or not thinking at all).

Our thinking eventually translates into our decisions and the messages we share. In turn, our communication impacts the way others think and act. Collectively, we all need to support each other to think more clearly.

One key piece of our communication is the future we aspire to create.

From the majority, we hear mostly of the past, the enormous challenges we are facing, or the crisis of the day. We need to offset this balance to focus our attention at least as much on the future we desire.

"Tomorrow's #leader regularly hones and shares a picture of their organization's #desired #future.”

Not doing so fuels the crisis of the day to become the anchor that keeps everyone in fear and short-term dependent.

If you are leading an impact-driven team, it is a good idea to build clarity of the future you want to see through your tenure. You can do it through the end results you and your team are working to create.

End results are the ultimate goals you are working for, which directly speak of your strategic focus.

KEY QUESTION:

"In your tenure, what goals are you deeply inspired to achieve (in service of the customer/community your organization serves)?”

While it sounds simple, many leaders dealing with complex environments can forget to remind their teams of core priorities. Assuming people are focused is not recommended. In my work, I see plenty of examples of teams working in a silos culture, with little or no communication between divisions and departments, and the inevitable lack of motivation, exhaustion, and burn out that ensues as a result.

Besides short-term outcomes, leaders want to regularly emphasize the most important end goals everyone is working toward. Doing so is likely to nourish motivation and create more room for collaboration and innovation.