We made it past Thanksgiving and now we are in full tilt holiday season, complete with all kinds of Christmas specials including How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and good old Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  It’s Rudolph and a conversation I had a few weeks ago with a colleague about motivating people that has me thinking.

Do you know what Santa and great leaders have in common?  They help people believe that they can fly (in Santa’s case, it’s reindeer and not people, but that’s just a small difference).

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I ever have walked into work and said, “Dang, this job is too simple.”  In fact, I spend a fair amount of time thinking, “Wait, you’re asking me to do what?  Do you realize that you’re sounding a little crazy right now?  What you’re asking me to do is so big.  I don’t know if I can do that.”  I wonder if that’s how Rudolph or any of the other reindeer felt when they were first asked to fly.

The fact is that all of our jobs are complicated and only getting harder.  Sooner or later someone is going to look at you and ask you to fly.  There will be a moment, and in that instant you’ll jump into the air and soar or you won’t.  Part of that moment will be on us, on our belief in ourselves, but part of that moment will be on the person asking you to do something difficult.  Have they spent time building you up and giving you a reason to believe that you can fly?

I know this whole thing probably sounds corny, but think about the people you know and work with.  There are people in my life who care for me, who inspire me, and who make me better, and then there are people who don’t.  The ones who inspire me aren’t always people with fancy titles either.  Santa (the historical or North Pole variety) is just an old guy motivated to do something nice for children.  He still manages to inspire reindeer to soar through the skies and people to do nice things.

Here’s to helping people believe they can fly.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry