Fire Them Up! E-Book

Carmine Gallo

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Seitenzahl: 311

Beschreibung

Fire Them Up! will give you the astonishing communication skills that will help you enjoy more successful and fulfilling relationships with colleagues, clients, employees, or anyone else in your personal or professional life. It is full of stories and tactics from some of the world's most influential people. More than two dozen of today's most inspiring business leaders share their secrets including men and women who run The Ritz-Carlton, Google, Travelocity, Cranium, Cold Stone Creamery, Gymboree, 24-Hour Fitness and many other big-name brands. The book reveals seven simple secrets distilled from the wisdom of leaders, entrepreneurs, and visionaries from different backgrounds, generations and industries. Together, they possess all the tools you need to transform yourself into an extraordinary, electrifying, and enthusiastic leader who communicates with power, passion, confidence and charisma!

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

PART I - The 7 Simple Secrets

INTRODUCTION - Our Chief Want

CHAPTER 1 - Ignite Your Enthusiasm

How One Google Executive Found Her Field of Dreams

How the Brain behind Cranium Connects with Your Heart

Driving Enthusiasm

Pump ’Em Up the Jack Welch Way

The Lovable Star

CHAPTER 2 - Navigate the Way

What’s Your One-Liner?

Masters and Commanders: Examples of Inspiring Navigators

Who’s in Your Mars Group?

Frame the Vision around a Grand Purpose

CHAPTER 3 - Sell the Benefit

“I’m a Mac and I’m a PC”

Do More with Dual Core

A Bridge over Geeky Waters

The Human Network

Learning Styles

My, What a Hard Drive You Have!

It’s Not about You. It’s about Them.

CHAPTER 4 - Paint a Picture

A Convenient Lesson in Storytelling

The Greek System

The $253 Million Story

Wowing ’Em at the Ritz

Analogies, Metaphors, and Other Tools to Jazz Up Your Story

Stories for the Soul

CHAPTER 5 - Invite Participation

The Place Where You’re Heard Is the Best Place to Work

Unmasking The Ritz-Carlton Mystique

Changing the Bible

Nobody Has an Emotional Experience with a Thing

Get ’Em to Care

Hear What People Have to Say

CHAPTER 6 - Reinforce an Optimistic Outlook

Seeing a Bright Future in the Thickest Fog

Unshakable Optimism

Want to Be Loved? Be an Optimist

CHAPTER 7 - Encourage Their Potential

Satisfy a Basic Human Need

Make an Emotional Investment in People

Unleash Their Talents

Your Ultimate Inspiration

PART II - Living the 7 Simple Secrets

INTRODUCTION - Inspire Every Day, in Every Office and in Every Home

CHAPTER 8 - HOO-YAH! Optimism Rules aboard the USS Ronald Reagan

Simple Secret #1: Ignite Your Enthusiasm

Simple Secret #2: Navigate the Way

Simple Secret #3: Sell the Benefit

Simple Secret #4: Paint a Picture

Simple Secret #5: Invite Participation

Simple Secret #6: Reinforce Optimism

Simple Secret #6: Encourage Potential

CHAPTER 9 - Fifteen Minutes to Five-Star Service

Simple Secret #1: Ignite Their Enthusiasm

Simple Secret #2: Navigate the Way

Simple Secret #3: Sell the Benefit

Simple Secret #5: Invite Participation

Simple Secret #7: Encourage Their Potential

CHAPTER 10 - How a Visit to the Lower Ninth Ward Inspired a Nation of Givers

Simple Secret #1: Ignite Your Enthusiasm

Simple Secret #5: Invite Participation

Simple Secret #3: Sell the Benefit

Simple Secret #4: Paint the Picture

CHAPTER 11 - Wow ‘Em Like Steve Jobs

Simple Secret #1: Ignite Your Enthusiasm

Simple Secret #2: Navigate the Way

Simple Secret #3: Sell the Benefit

Simple Secret #4: Paint a Picture

Simple Secret #6: Reinforce an Optimistic Outlook

Simple Secret #7: Encourage Others to Reach Their Potential

CHAPTER 12 - How an Ice Cream Shop Became the Hottest Franchise in Town

Simple Secret #2: Navigate the Way

Simple Secret #3: Sell the Benefit

Simple Secret #4: Paint a Picture

Simple Secret #7: Encourage Their Potential

Simple Secret #1: Ignite Your Enthusiasm

CHAPTER 13 - A Mission Impossible Fit for Tom Cruise

Simple Secret #1: Ignite Your Enthusiasm

Simple Secret #2: Navigate the Way

Simple Secret #3: Sell the Benefit

Simple Secret #5: Invite Participation

Simple Secret #6: Reinforce an Optimistic Outlook

Simple Secret #7: Encourage Others to Reach Their Potential

CHAPTER 14 - A Master Class in Motivation

Simple Secret #1: Ignite Your Enthusiasm

Simple Secret #2: Navigate the Way

Simple Secret #3: Sell the Benefit

Simple Secret #4: Paint a Picture

Simple Secret #5: Invite Participation

Simple Secret #6: Reinforce an Optimistic Outlook

Simple Secret #7: Encourage Others to Reach Their Potential

CONCLUSION

Notes

Index

About the Author

Copyright © 2007 by Carmine Gallo. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Gallo, Carmine.

Fire them up! : 7 simple secrets to inspire colleagues, customers, and

Clients, sell yourself, your vision, and your values, communicate with

Charisma and confidence / Carmine Gallo.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-470-16566-9 (cloth)

1. Business communication. 2. Communication in management.

3. Communication in organizations. I. Title.

HF5718.G353 2008

658.4’ 5-dc22

2007014932

To Josephine and Lela. My girls, my inspiration.

Acknowledgments

I know it is customary to thank spouses at the end of the acknowledgments section, but this time my wife deserves much of the credit. Vanessa was instrumental in getting crucial material to the publisher on time. She spent countless hours retrieving the permissions required to include the interviews and photographs in this book. One cannot be blessed with a greater inspiration by their side. Thank you, Vanessa, for making my life richer than I could ever imagine.

Many thanks to my editor at John Wiley & Sons, Richard Narramore, for believing in the power of this content to make a difference in the lives of its readers. Richard’s suggestions gave this book an entirely new dimension. Special praise for Wiley editorial assistant Tiffany Groglio. Her title doesn’t do justice to her gifts. She is a consummate editor and unbelievably professional. Tiffany is nothing short of amazing. Everyone at Wiley is top notch, and my thanks go out to all involved in editing, design, marketing, publicity, and sales. Wiley does it right from start to finish.

My agent at New England Publishing Associates, Edward Knappman, continues to be one of my strongest supporters. His advice has always been spot on. Thank you, Ed.

Thank you to everyone who generously gave of their time to participate in this work. You are exceptional people who raise the bar for the rest of us: Jay Adelson, Cliff Atkinson, Ron Clark, Simon Cooper, Nancy Duarte, Doug Ducey, Peter Fleisher, Krista Hawkins, Wendy Kopp, Robert Labrenz, Wayne Leonard, Bob Levinson, Marissa Mayer, Mark Mastrov, Matt McCauley, Mike McCue, Michelle Peluso, Bill Powanda, Jason Rhodes, Al Stubblefield, Richard Tait, and Jim Thompson.

Although the next individuals were not directly interviewed for this book, these authors have influenced and inspired me: Marcus Buckingham, Jim Collins, Stephen. R. Covey, Wayne W. Dyer, Chip Heath and Dan Heath, John Maxwell, and Tim Sanders. Thank you, gentlemen, for your insights and contribution to improving the way business is done.

One cannot be blessed with a more supportive family. Many thanks to my parents, Francesco and Giuseppina. Thanks also to Tino, Donna, Francesco, Nicholas, Ken, Patty, and my dear and close friends.

My girls, Josephine and Lela, are too young to read this today, but when they do, I want them to know that the joy on their faces has made this daddy proud. They make every day an inspiration.

PART I

The 7 Simple Secrets

INTRODUCTION

Our Chief Want

Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

You have the power to inspire anyone, anywhere, anytime. You may not have a leadership title, but you exert influence over someone every day. Whether you are a Fortune 500 chief executive or the head of a household, you are in the motivational business. Regardless of your role, you play the part of chief inspiration officer for someone at work, at home, or in your community. The 7 Simple Secrets revealed in this book hold the key to successfully selling yourself, your vision, and your values to everyone within your sphere of influence. As you develop the astonishing communications skills shared by the world’s most inspiring men and women, you will enjoy far more successful and fulfilling relationships with your colleagues, clients, employees, and anyone in your personal or professional life.

In order for these strategies to work, you need to see yourself as the leader of your personal brand. How you talk, walk, and look reflect on that brand, and you are in sole command of the impression you make. If you fail to connect, you will lose the admiration of the people you hope to influence. But once you master the 7 Simple Secrets, you will be known among your peers as an individual who speaks with confidence and charisma. A door will open to a new world of achievement because the stories you tell will have the power to inspire, motivate, and persuade. The verbal pictures you paint will be so vivid and bright that the rest of us will want to climb aboard for the ride. The language you use will be so positive and optimistic that your presence will energize us, making us feel better about ourselves and our roles in the world.

Whose “Secrets” Are These?

When conference organizers invite me to speak on the topic of business communications, they often introduce me as a “motivational speaker.” While I am flattered and eager to share what I have learned, I quickly point out that if you have to hire a motivational speaker to fire up your people, you’ve already lost them. You are the one they turn to for motivation day after day, not me. I’m not the one who spends eight, nine, ten hours a day alongside them. You are the one who must develop your skills of persuasion to inspire those around you. In this book, you will learn from the best. The 7 Simple Secrets revealed belong to the men and women who, by the power of their words, deeds, and demeanor, inspire everyone around them. They include:

• Leaders who run companies such as The Ritz-Carlton, Google, Gymboree, Cold Stone Creamery, 24 Hour Fitness, Travelocity, Starbucks, and many other well-known brands.

• A company president who has built a culture so synonymous with extraordinary service that every year hundreds of business professionals pay thousands of dollars to learn his company’s techniques.

• Managers who have transformed their companies from second-tier organizations into nationally ranked Best Places to Work.

• A Princeton graduate whose idealistic vision inspired thousands of college seniors to join her cause, landing her on the cover of Fortune magazine.

• An entrepreneur who created a worldwide brand sensation after sketching his idea on the back of a napkin and firing up the people around him to follow his vision.

• A teacher whose techniques are so effective that a television movie was based on his experiences.

These men and women come from different backgrounds, generations, and industries, but they share one quality in common: the ability to inspire others to higher levels of achievement and to win over others with the power of their words. Their insights will change the way you see yourself as a brand and how you communicate the vision behind your values. A world of potential exists in each and every one of us: a potential unleashed by those who speak the language of success. In the pages to follow, the language will be revealed.

The techniques are called “simple secrets” because they really are simple. All you have to do is adopt the model in your everyday communications : presentations, pitches, meetings, speeches, interviews, emails, Webcasts, blogs, or however you articulate your story to those you intend to influence. Most of the books, white papers, and research studies on the subject of business communications are long, confusing, and boring—the exact opposite of the skills you need to inspire. You will be pleased to know that I have studied the research to save you the hassle. I have also spent nearly twenty years as a communications professional: as a CNN business correspondent, television anchor, radio host, columnist, author, speaker, and communications coach who works with top executives at the world’s most admired brands. My clients’ brands touch your life each and every day. From your bank, to your computer, to the products you buy and the foods you eat, my clients make and sell the things that you can’t live without. My job is to make sure that the leaders who run those companies craft and deliver messages that will electrify their audiences. Hundreds of business professionals, from CEOs to entrepreneurs, have gone from dull to dazzling using the model in this book. I get really pumped up about these principles because I see how they have changed the lives and careers of people who have mastered them.

The word “inspire” means to elicit fervent enthusiasm. In other words, to fire people up! Think about the roles you play in business and the opportunities you have to inspire, motivate, and persuade the people around you:

• CEO. Rallying your employees, customers, and investors to embrace your vision.

• Salesperson. Turning prospects into customers and customers into evangelists.

• Manager. Firing up employees about new products and the future of the company.

• Merchant. Encouraging your staff to exceed the expectations of your customers by offering mind-blowing service.

• Entrepreneur. Electrifying your investors, partners, employees, and customers about your new company and its potential to change the world.

• Coach. Motivating your team to play harder, learn from their mistakes, and celebrate their losses and victories with class.

• Teacher. Encouraging your students to learn discipline, study hard, and commit themselves to reaching their potential in school and in life.

• Pastor. Energizing your congregation to live their faith and values in the community after they leave their place of worship.

• Parent. Convincing your children to model your high ethical and moral standards.

These desired actions begin and end with how effectively you communicate the story behind your vision. Some people have an appeal—a magnetism—that allows them to successfully influence everyone around them. You know who they are. They are individuals you see on television, read about in newspapers, or possibly run into at the office. It is time to join them.

Alicia Silverstone Isn’t the Only One Who’s Clueless

If you work in sales, research shows your number-one pain point is making quota. It should be. Miss your numbers and you are out of a job. However, for many sales managers, a close second to making quota is motivating the people they supervise. Unfortunately, most people are clueless when it comes to inspiring others. I read an interview in the New York Times with an event planner, recounting some of the horror stories she experienced on the job. At one conference she coordinated, a company president organized a stunt as a “motivational” tool. The president, an expert archer, picked his top saleswoman from the audience and asked her to balance an apple on her head so he could shoot an arrow through it from fifty feet!1 The arrow hit its target and the saleswoman survived, but the president was way off the mark. In this book, you will not learn corny gimmicks to fire up your sales team. You will l earn how to speak with confidence,and by doing so, you will inspire everyone, including yourself.

Be Like Apple. Think Different

In his book, Hope: How Triumphant Leaders Create the Future, Andrew Razeghi quotes a study that found “only 20 percent of all U.S. employees want to be with their current employer in two years.”2 What’s truly alarming is that most employees cite a lack of leadership as their reason for going elsewhere. Today’s workers crave meaning in their lives and a professional role that represents something larger than themselves. Unfortunately, few leaders communicate meaning, hope, and optimism. They fail to create an emotional connection with their employees, customers, and colleagues. But you have an opportunity to be different, to excel, and to inspire others in a way you have yet to imagine.

Bad, Boring, and Blah or Energizing, Engaging, and Electric!

As a journalist and communications coach, I come across three types of communicators.

THE CHIEF OF BLAH

This person does not consider the need to inspire his employees as part of his job description. A meeting is simply an opportunity to announce an order; a presentation is a way to score points, to show his superiors that he should keep his job. Nothing more. His primary goal is to keep bringing in his paycheck and to get a bigger bonus than his colleagues. He is not inspiring, nor does he want to be. Instead of energizing, he extinguishes, snuffing out all creativity, energy, and drive in the people around him.

THE CHIEF OF MEDIOCRITY

This person is genuinely concerned about the need to rally her team, but she does not have the tools to match the power of her communications with her desire. She does an adequate job of communicating her mission, but she could be clearer, more convincing, and more compelling. This is the kind of person who can make enjoyable small talk at the company barbecue, but nobody is eager to join her at work on Monday morning.

THE CHIEF INSPIRATION OFFICER

This person is an extraordinary communicator. He places a strong emphasis on the way he crafts and delivers his message, vision, and values. He is successful at getting listeners actually to change what they have come to believe. He successfully rallies people around the vivid future he sees and helps them find meaning in their roles. This leader is magnetic. He leaves everyone energized, enthusiastic, and electrified!

Your existing title is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that you want to be more captivating and confident in the way you speak, because in this book, you’ll learn from the best. In Chapter One, you will meet one entrepreneur whose title is “Grand Poo Bah.” He has an untraditional title but a remarkable ability to electrify the people around him. Don’t sweat the title. Achieve results. Your title will take care of itself.

Enchant the Soul

The standard definition of “rhetoric” is the art of persuasion through language. I prefer Plato’s take on it: the art of enchanting the soul. Enchant the soul of your listeners, and you will enjoy influence, success, and joy beyond your wildest dreams.

The Real Hell’s Kitchen

Like most people, I have worked for some managers whose failure to communicate effectively left everyone in the division or company uninspired, unmotivated, and demoralized. I spent a couple of years under one boss who made Chef Gordon Ramsey on the Fox show Hell’s Kitchen look as friendly as a puppy in a pet store. This particular manager was a well-known television personality who tried on a boss’s hat for a few years. Not a good idea. When he got mad, he would yell for his supervisors, bring them into his office—which was within earshot of my mine—slam the door shut, and scream obscenities for two hours. Grown men would walk out with tears in their eyes. Working for this monster—uh, “manager”—motivated me to leave that particular job and live my life on my own terms; I choose my own path, I’m my own boss, and I avoid working for people who fail to lift the spirits of those around them. This manager “motivated” out of fear but failed to inspire.

You do not need a book to teach you how to act like a jerk. Poor managers think that motivation means scaring the heck out of people. It doesn’t. Other managers think we’re all like Pavlov’s dogs: Give us a treat and we’ll perform. These managers believe that offering incentives, such as a 50-inch widescreen plasma TV for the person with the highest sales, is all the motivation his team needs. It’s not. Financial or material incentives might work for a few hours or days, but they will fail to inspire people over the long run.

Many leaders have yet to discover this basic fact: Fewer than half of U.S. workers are happy with their jobs, and only 14 percent are “very satisfied,” according to a Conference Board survey.3 This low level of engagement costs the American economy an estimated $350 billion a year in lost productivity.4 I could offer more statistics, but why bother? Clearly, people are desperate for inspiring leadership. We all know it. Just look at the frown on the face of the person next to you on the train Monday morning, the demeanor of the bank teller, the lack of enthusiasm and customer service skills from the sales clerk at the department store. People are uninspired, and it shows. Keep this in mind as you read the stories of the inspiring individuals in this book; although you may work for a demoralizing boss, you can choose to be different. You can choose to join the men and women who are among the most influential people on the planet, capturing the hearts and minds of everyone you meet. As an old saying goes, when you are ready, the teacher will appear. The teachers are in this book, so get ready!

I encourage you to be the type of person people want to stick with for the long term, the person whose vision people want to follow, and the person who brings out the best in others. Your customers, colleagues, clients, employees, staff, team, students, and children are searching for someone to satisfy their chief want. If you miss the opportunity to engage them, they will look elsewhere for inspiration: another company, a competitor, a boss, a congregation, or, saddest of all, questionable peers. We all want to be around someone who makes us feel good about ourselves and engages our hearts and minds with the vision of a brighter future. You have the ability and, I would argue, the obligation, to play this role for those in your life. All you need are the right tools, the proper insight, and a dose of motivation from others who have achieved this extraordinary level of influence.

A Simple Formula for Career Success

If you truly want to make a mark in this world—to leave a “ding in the universe,” as Apple cofounder Steve Jobs once said—then you must elevate your personal brand and become a person of influence who communicates with confidence and charisma. Not only will you be rewarded on a personal level, but your career and company will reap the benefits. Engaged employees are passionate, innovative, and exceed their sales targets. They value their organization and, most important, their immediate supervisor or manager. According to a study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, companies whose leaders communicate successfully also outperform their competitors financially; companies with highly effective communications practices had a level of employee engagement that was nearly five times greater than that of the competition.5 Those companies also posted a significantly higher return to shareholders over a five-year period.

According to leadership professor and author Jay Conger, “A more educated, more intrinsically motivated workplace demands that executives and managers recast their image more in the light of an effective political leader. They must learn to sell themselves and their missions—this depends on highly effective language skills.”6 In the future, says Conger, “leaders will not only have to be effective strategists, but rhetoricians who can energize through the words they choose. The era of managing by dictate is ending and is being replaced by an era of managing by inspiration.” Think about it. Management by inspiration. What a glorious goal!

You might want listeners to enthusiastically embrace your vision for the company, buy your product, or choose your service. Reaching these goals requires that you build an emotional connection between your listeners and your vision, your brand, and yourself. When you succeed at creating that connection, the results are magical, leading to a transformation in your life as well as contributing to positive change in those around you. The people around you are looking for meaning, belonging, and a sense of fulfillment but are not getting it. You can change that, and you must, to enjoy a richer life. Adopt the 7 Simple Secrets and people will walk through walls for you.

Inspire!

This book is based on observations and interviews with dozens of extraordinary men and women who communicate visions that are irrepressible, irresistible, and wildly contagious. If you are ready to take your place among them, the 7 Simple Secrets will take you there. The next seven chapters in Part I will put you on the road to becoming a super motivator. Get ready to INSPIRE:

1. Ignite Your Enthusiasm: Light a Fire in Your Heart before Sparking One in Theirs.

2. Navigate the Way: Deliver a Specific, Consistent, and Memorable Vision.

3. Sell the Benefit: Put Your Listeners First.

4. Paint a Picture: Tell Powerful, Memorable, and Actionable Stories.

5. Invite Participation: Solicit Input, Overcome Objections, and Develop a Winning Strategy.

6. Reinforce an Optimistic Outlook: Become a Beacon of Hope.

7. Encourage People to Reach Their Potential: Praise People, Invest in Them, and Unleash Their Potential.

Part I explores each of the 7 Simple Secrets in detail. Part II includes conversations and observations of inspiring individuals in different fields. These chapters will help you to appreciate the wide range of situations in which you can apply the secrets.

Inspiring communicators have nailed the 7 Simple Secrets. By doing so, they leave people energized, enthusiastic, and motivated. When you are in the presence of these extraordinary individuals, you are left with the belief—the absolutely certain belief—that everything you have ever wanted to achieve is possible. They make you feel better about yourself and the world in which we all do business. They embrace change. They love challenge. They fill their days with positive energy and see a future that is bright and hopeful. This collective energy results in a motivated, positive, energized workplace, proven to increase the value of the organization. You have the potential to exert positive influence on the lives of those around you. These 7 Simple Secrets will allow you to take your rightful place among the world’s most inspiring leaders.

Inspiration comes in many forms. I am inspired by the radiant smile of my baby daughter when she sees her daddy in the morning, the par-3 seventeenth hole at Pebble Beach, and the emerald-blue water of Lake Tahoe. Accomplishments inspire us, too. We can be inspired by the deeds of extraordinary men and women, both historical and contemporary: Napoleon Bonaparte, Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and other innovative minds. Few of us will live at a confluence of history where we can unleash previously untapped powers to change the world, but we are all catalysts of change for the people around us. We all strive to improve our existence, to be our best selves, and to leave a legacy, but most of us need an extra push, someone to inspire us. It is our chief want, and this book will show you how to satisfy it. Now let’s get started.

CHAPTER 1

Ignite Your Enthusiasm

Light a Fire in Your Heart before Sparking One in Theirs

This is the one true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.

—George Bernard Shaw

In the 2006 season of America’s Next Top Model, supermodel Tyra Banks and her zany cast of judges faced a decision: whether to advance one of two twin sisters competing for the ultimate prize of a cover shoot for Seventeen magazine and $100,000 to jump-start her career. Michelle had poise, grace, and technical skills. Her sister, Amanda, lacked Michelle’s natural talent but wanted it more. Amanda was enthusiastic about modeling and wanted nothing less than to make it her life’s calling. Michelle, however, admitted that she did not have the same energy and passion as her sister or the other candidates. “In this competition, passion is way more important than beautiful pictures,” said Tyra as she eliminated Michelle. Likewise, in the competition to inspire listeners, passion and excitement will separate you from the pack. Energize yourself before you attempt to engage the hearts and minds of your audience.

In my role as a communications coach, I meet astonishing business professionals in a cross section of industries and roles: in the executive ranks, sales, marketing, and throughout all levels of the organization. The most energizing among them have a personal quality that lifts everyone’s spirit. They are a tiny but bright constellation, a group of star performers who are worlds away from the majority of leaders in business today. While they share 7 Simple Secrets that set them apart, it all starts with one common thread, Simple Secret #1: Successful leaders are fired up about what they do and have an extraordinary ability to generate excitement in others.

How One Google Executive Found Her Field of Dreams

Inspiration begins internally. What is it about your service, product, company, or cause that pumps you up? Only after you identify what you are truly passionate about will you be in a position to motivate others. Marissa Mayer is the Vice President of Search Products for Google. She has her hands on pretty much every feature that appears on the search engine: colors, graphics, tools, and interfaces. Her role impacts the Internet searches that millions of people conduct daily. But it’s her passion that got her there.

You might not expect a computer science major to have a warm, friendly, and outgoing personality, and I say that with only the greatest affection for technologists, but when I first met Mayer, she shattered my stereotype. She had recently been featured on the cover of several magazines, including Newsweek and Fast Company. She is articulate and has striking good looks (she captained the pom-pom squad for her high school in Wausau, Wisconsin, but I doubt her cheerleading experience makes it to the top of her resume). Mayer works an insane number of hours. Her weekdays begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 8:00 p.m. Those are only the hours she spends in the office. After hitting the Google gym around 11:00 p.m., she typically answers email until 3:00 a.m.! And you thought you spent a lot of time at work.

Mayer has found a career that ignites her passion for how technology can improve our lives. “I’m amazed at the role Google plays in the world today,” she says. “Touching people’s lives and giving them information to choose better jobs, take better educational paths, find better medical treatment. Information is fundamentally critical.”1

In one respect, the information Mayer leaves out of the conversation is more important than what she includes. She never says a word about money, stock, the gym, or the famous Google cafeteria. (The company employs gourmet chefs to serve up fancy, delicious, and free meals to its employees. When was the last time you found Eggplant Ratatouille, Seared Day Boat Scallops in a Green Coconut Curry Sauce, or Tropical Shrimp Bisque Soup in your company kitchen?) There is no question that a good salary, health benefits, a club membership, a cafeteria, and free coffee are nice perks, but while perks keep us coming back to the office, they do not inspire. Big difference. Mayer’s teams of engineers and product managers enjoy working with her because her enthusiasm is infectious. She makes them feel good about the company, its products, and the role those products play in the world today. “In 1982, we had a lot of space where I grew up in Wisconsin,” Mayer recalls, “and I remember me and my group of friends had planned to build an actual baseball diamond. Was it 88 feet between bases or 90? we asked. We reached an impasse because we didn’t want to ask our parents to drive us to the library, pull out a reference book, and look it up. That was the only way to answer that question back then. Today you just type it into Google and have an answer immediately.”

According to Mayer, you would be hard-pressed to find a group of individuals who make a larger contribution to the world than her colleagues at Google. She communicates this enthusiasm in conversations, meetings, emails, and presentations. “People need to appreciate the impact they are having,” says Mayer. “When you produce a product that is installed on tens of millions of machines or viewed tens of millions of times across the world, you have an impact on people’s lives. You have a serious responsibility to users and the world.”

Mayer creates a strong emotional connection to her listeners because she is deeply committed to the message. She exudes energy, enthusiasm, and excitement. You must do the same. Once you make a positive association between yourself and the message, you are more likely to reach the holy grail of influence: turning listeners into evangelists. Evangelists have such a deep passion for you, your brand, and your message that they will sing your praises to others. John Watson Sr., the founder of IBM, said, “The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of enthusiasm.” Transmit enthusiasm. Do great things.

How a Pop Star Washed Out the Cobwebs

People find inspiration in many ways. One of my clients, Latin pop star Obie Bermudez, found inspiration in a South Bronx laundry. His first album garnered very little attention, certainly not enough to let him live the life of a superstar. To make a living, he worked in a Laundromat for five years. Watching the daily interactions of the customers inspired him to write nearly all the songs for his second album, which reached number one on the Latin music charts. The spin cycle actually helped him find his voice!

How the Brain behind Cranium Connects with Your Heart

When I stepped out of the elevator into Cranium’s colorful office space near Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market, I was hit with a wave of energy, enthusiasm, and excitement that I had rarely experienced in corporate America. These people really love their jobs, I thought. Everyone greets you like you are their best friend. They smile through the gloomiest Seattle day. (See Figure 1.1.) A sense of pride permeates their conversations. Cranium has successfully reinvented the board game category, creating the fastest-selling independent board game in history. It has become more than a game; it is a place that unleashes the limitless creativity and energy of its employees, who create award-winning games, toys, and books that are so infectious, buyers call themselves “Craniacs.” Where does this energy come from? I wondered. I did not have to look far. Sitting in a glass-walled office filled with toys and games was Cranium’s inventor Richard Tait, one of the most awe-inspiring entrepreneurs in America today.

Figure 1.1 Cranium’s infectious enthusiasm affects everyone; Cranium’s “Professor Profit,” Jack Lawrence, takes a lap around the office on his scooter to celebrate a “financial milestone.”

Photo by Ken Lambert, May 28, 2006. Photo courtesy of The Seattle Times.

I was about to get my first dose of the dynamic Scot whom Bill Gates had once selected as Microsoft’s Employee of the Year. Richard Tait is now Cranium’s cofounder, or “Grand Poo Bah.” No kidding. That is his title. In fact, everyone at Cranium is encouraged to come up with a title that fits their job description. The “Head of the Hive” oversees publicity, or buzz. The “Chief Culture Keeper” heads HR, and the “Concierge” is the receptionist. You get the idea. Everything about Cranium is intended to reinvent the rules of how business is conducted. It is not often that I meet a charismatic pitchman like Tait. “Within five minutes of meeting Tait, you’ll want to work for him,” a colleague told me. She was right. Tait’s energy and enthusiasm are wildly infectious. He is an entrepreneur, inventor, leader, and Chief Inspiration Officer for Cranium’s employees, investors, and customers.