Enthusiasm
has a great cloak which can conceal lame talents, dwarfed ambitions, and mangy
personalities. It has a sparkle like sunlight on rippling waters and can cause
dedicated failures to be delightful. You can buy a man’s time. You can
buy a man’s physical presence at a given place. You can even buy a measured
number of skilled muscular actions per hour per day. But you cannot buy
enthusiasm, you cannot buy initiative, you cannot buy loyalty. You cannot buy
the devotion of a heart, mind and soul; you have to earn
these things (Ed Liden).
Enthusiasm
finds opportunities, and energy makes the most of them. The noblest definition
for enthusiasm is by Greeks, meaning ”God in us.” There is no substitute for
enthusiasm. When the members of a team are enthusiastic, the whole team becomes
highly energized. And that energy produces power. Industrialist Charles Schwab
observed, “People can succeed at almost anything for which they have
enthusiasm”.
You
cannot win if you do not begin. To conquer fear, you have to feel the fear and
take action. You’ve got to get yourself moving. Likewise, if you want to be
enthusiastic, you need to start acting
that way. If you wait for the feeling before acting, you may never become
enthusiastic. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates remarked, ‘’What I do best is share
my enthusiasm”. Obviously that ability has brought the people in his
organisation immense success.
A
good way to fire up your own furnace is
to do things with greater urgency. A
second way to is to do more. And the third is to strive for excellence. Many
decades ago, Charles Schwab, who was earning a salary of a million dollars a
year, was asked if he was paid such a high salary of his exceptional ability to
produce steel. Charles Schwab replied, ‘I consider my ability to arouse
enthusiasm among the men is the greatest asset I possess, and the way to
develop the best is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement”.
The
worst bankrupt is the person who has lost enthusiasm. Carefully managed
enthusiasm is a most splendid business resource that can inspire dedication,
drive, originality and above all, results. What is more, enthusiasm is highly
contagious and can bring out the health, happiness and success in everyone.
Sr (Dr) Lilly Thockanattu SJL
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