Tweet

Becoming a Leader – 5 Fountains of Motivation

Guest post by: David Beairsto

Article Overview: Proper motivation is necessary to becoming a leader. True leadership respects the source and flow of motivation and maintains balance by ensuring the wells that feed the fountains never run dry.

Becoming a Leader – 5 Fountains of Motivation

Leading an Inspired Life Inspires Others...



Motivation is the greatest force behind true leadership and becoming a leader requires knowing where motivation begins and how it flows. Becoming a leader involves understanding that these fountains contain the water you must drink from; they must never run dry.

The term ‘self made' is incongruous with what really happens on the road to success. Successful entrepreneurs need the motivational influences outside of themselves in proper balance and alignment.

The 5 Fountains of Motivation

This list is created in order and each fountain fills the next:

1. Spiritual motivation

2. Professional motivation

3. Personal motivation

4. Social motivation

5. Charitable motivation

These fountains spring from the wells that supply the waters of motivation. Leadership flourishes or withers depending upon the depth of each well.

Spiritual Motivation

You may or may not resonate with the most powerful motivational force in existence but people of faith have an advantage when it comes to leadership.

People who learn to worship a perfect leader that cannot be equaled are drawn toward a level of perfection they can never attain. This is motivation at its zenith; the well that never runs dry.

Simply trying to wrap your mind around the infinite will motivate you to get creative. The farther you look outward into space or inward toward subatomic particles your mind is flooded with inspiration and flows freely.

Professional Motivation

When you're already aiming for a standard, higher than any human standard, professional conduct and integrity will define your business affairs. Your posture as a leader is subjective to and reflects a higher authority.

You begin to see the flow of motivation from a continuous eternal source that is able to fill every other well of motivation.

Your drive to provide the best possible product or service continuously feeds your sense of purpose and meaning.

Personal Motivation

If you find yourself unmotivated or lethargic you should always check the first two wells. Leaders know how to keep their tanks full.

Personal motivation is an extension of a greater purpose and should not be treated as your primary focus. You are inspired and become an inspiration because you are fed and therefore can feed.

We are not meant to be on the top rung. It is a precarious position that is not only self-destructive but affects the wells that actually do lie below us.

Social Motivation

Personal motivation feeds self assurance but if you allow social motivation to fill that tank you subject yourself to peer pressure. Leaders don't follow the crowd.

Placing the emphasis on what people want above our personal, professional or spiritual integrity is a dangerous proposition. What people want isn't always what's best for them and following this cycle leads to costly consequences.

The want for cheaper food leads to poor nutrition, which leads to weakness, illness and disease; society doesn't always want what it should. A leader is socially motivated based upon the greater good and draws from the previous three wells to meet specific needs.

Charitable Motivation

When you've maintained the wells from which motivation springs the end result is abundance of both time and resources. Charity is dependent upon leaders who can optimize schedules and finances.

You can see evidence of improper motivation in landfills strewn with stuff that was purchased and discarded. Shortages in food banks and escalating debt are also signs that motivation is unbalanced.

If you arrive at the point of wanting to give but have nothing to give it is never because of a lack of charitable motivation. Becoming a leader by following this pattern means your capacity to give will always increase.

Related Articles
  5 Ways to Motivate Your Salespeople
  The Most Important Sales Leadership Discipline to Motivating Sales Teams
  INVENTORIES CAN BE MANAGE BUT PEOPLE SHOULD BE LEAD.
  Maturity in the attitude of the business leader
  How to Motivate Yourself: Part 1
  Leadership – Is Everyone Trainable?
  Successful ways of leadership & business development
  Why Motivation Malfunctions at Midlife
  The Truth About Who Can Really Motivate A Person According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Motivation Mistakes
  Motivation with consequences
  BE A LEADER - MANAGER
  How to Use Inspiration or Desperation to Sell More
  What's Your Motivation?
  Increase Motivation by Using Questions to Lead Your Team
  The Two-Word Secret Weapon to Effective Leadership
  Entrepreneurs, Great Leaders of Today!
  Managers As Motivators
  Motivation vs Inspiration!
  LEADERSHIP: AUTOGRAPH YOUR WORK WITH EXCELLENCE

Article Tags: becoming a leader, charitable motivation, inspiration, leadership, motivation, personal motivation, professional motivation, social motivation, spiritual motivation
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: My 200 post - Well GT, You done it again, The Leader and now you have 1003 post, wow. Michelle and Trent, you are a winners too. WTG friends, you are an inspiration.
Re: How To Stay Motivated In Your Business - Motivation spurs people into actions every time. When there is no motivation the reason to move forward seems lost. Thanks so much for this post Evan
Blank text field might be better - Hi TheAnonymousMan, I like your idea! I'm assuming it would be similar to the status feature on Facebook where it might say "Kevin is ... " So I think having a blank text field in the profile box (and even "Leader" boxes on the left and top side of the forums if possible) might be more fun than just choosing from pre-set options from a drop down menu:D
Re: Finding AND Keeping Good People - Employee retention or as you mention “Keeping the Good People” is one of the biggest challenges for any growing business. It takes a huge effort from the entrepreneur’s end. I can come up with the following when it comes to KEEPing the good people- 1. Motivation of the employees 2. Recognition of the needs of the employees 3. Activities to make the employees feel valuable towards the organization 4. Make benefits more accessible 5. Offer profit sharing incentives 6. Create clear career paths at the company 7. Consider telecommuting, job sharing and other flexible working arrangements 8. Incentives are essential and they don't have to be huge 9. Have other managers praise an employee's work 10. Be sensitive to the balance between work and private life
Re: What Franchisors Want From Franchisees - Kevin - Here's a rough summary of your questions. Your credit score - below 600's and you're considered high risk. Best if you are in the high 600's and above... if you're in 700's you're golden. Franchisers want to see people who can relate to other people. If you are very shy or you dislike working with the public, then this can count against you. Even if you can fake it... why would you bother? Great customer service is a benchmark any business owner should strive for... Financing arrangements will vary - if you can show that you have 20% above all of your start-up costs, this would help. The more assets you own the better. Motivation can be expressed in HOW you plan the start-up. It's all in the details. Are you taking the opportunity seriously? Are you learning and studying business attributes like marketing, salesmanship, and customer service? Demonstrate that you are motivated. Subscribing to their system would be about following their rules. If you have a maverick mentality... then consider starting your own business where you make the rules... not a franchise. Franchisers have different ways in how they evaluate their prospects. Your professional background or history can play an important role in the final evaluation. This is really about common sense...


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Selling What Sizzles vs. Delivering Real Value

Adapting to Technology and the Internet

What is an Adaptive Organization

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.