How to Become a Chief Inspiration Officer

There is no way you can succeed by yourself. Whether in business, school, or family, you need the support of the people around you. In business, for example, you need to win the support of your customers, colleagues and employers.

Of course, the problem is it’s not easy to get their support. With so many things competing for their attention, why should they choose to support us?

The book Fire Them Up! by Carmine Gallo gives us a solution for this problem. Through its 7 “simple secrets”, we can become a Chief Inspiration Officer who inspire and motivate the people around us. This way, not only can you get their support, you can also mobilize them to take action. This is how the book describes a 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… This leader is magnetic. He leaves everyone energized, enthusiastic, and electrified!

Do you want to be someone like that? I’ve summarized the book to give the gems to you. Here are 7 secrets to become a Chief Inspiration Officer:

1. Ignite your enthusiasm

Successful people are fired up about what they do and have an extraordinary ability to generate excitement in others. Enthusiasm is infectious, so you should light a fire in your heart before sparking one in theirs.

The first thing you should do is energizing yourself.  Ask yourself: what is it about your service, product, company, or cause that pumps you up? By feeling inspired yourself, you will have boundless energy, enthusiasm, and excitement – all of those qualities that make you likable; and if people like you, they are more likely to buy into your vision and your values.

Enthusiasm separates average performers from extraordinary leaders.

2. Navigate the way

Enthusiasm opens the door, but vision grabs hold of your listeners and pulls them to the other side. You should deliver a specific, consistent, and memorable vision. In The One Thing You Need to Know, Marcus Buckingham wrote:

A leader carries a vivid image in his head of what a future could be… The friction between ‘what is’ and ‘what could be’ burns them, stirs them up, and propels them forward.

For a vision to have impact, it must be simple and profound. The way to do so is by keeping your vision to ten words or less: “the one-liner“.

In the words of the book Built to Last, you should set a big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG). It’s a huge, daunting challenge which is like a big mountain to climb. It’s tangible, energizing, and requires little or no explanation.

To successfuly articulate a vision, you should use language that is both rich in imagery and devoid of weak, empty, and ambiguous words. Your words must help your listeners form a mental picture of where you plan to take them.

3. Sell the benefit

People are inspired when they know how your product or service will improve their lives. What’s in it for me? is the one question that should be answered not once, but throughout your communication.

Here are some lessons that will help you define your value by focusing on your listener:

  • Set up the problem before offering the solution
    Help them to see the benefit immediately by describing a problem and setting the stage for your solution.
  • Say it simply
    Eliminate any words that are not common language for your listeners.
  • Use tangible, real-world examples
    Use these two words that will do wonders for your communication: “for example”.

Your listeners do not care about you. They care about what you can do for them.

4. Paint a picture

Inspiring individuals sell themselves, their vision, and their values by turning their message into a story that piques your interest, and, above all, leads you to take some sort of action. They are skilled in telling powerful, memorable, and actionable story; they master the art of painting verbal pictures.

You should make an emotional connection with your listeners through personal stories and observations. We tend to forget much of what we hear, but we remember 100 percent of what we feel.

5. Invite participation

We all want to feel important, special, and included. So open a dialogue with people; make them feel as if they are equal participants.

You cannot inspire people unless they like you, and they will like you if you ask for their feedback, genuinely listen to their opinions, and turn their suggestions into action.

6. Reinforce an optimistic outlook

Inspiring individuals are optimistic. When people are most likely to see defeat, you must radiate hope, confidence, and possibility. You must have unshakable optimism with overwhelming confidence in your vision.

Hold on to your dreams. Believe in them because you only become what you believe.
Oprah Winfrey

Optimism is a ‘force multiplier’.
Colin Powell

7. Encourage their potential

You should encourage people to reach their potential by effectively praising them, emotionally investing in them, and helping them to unleash their talents. You can make emotional investment by caring about people as individuals and showing genuine concern for their families, interests, and goals.

Believe it or not, building people up and helping them reach their fullest potential will bring far more pleasure than you could ever imagine.

Photo by CPLS Photos

11 Comments

  1. […] Donald Latumahina over at Life Optimizer wrote a great piece about the book Fire Them Up! by Carmine Gallo on becoming a company’s “Chief Inspiration Officer.”  Coming off the energy and power of EduCon 2.0 I thought I’d try and take Donald’s ideas and focus them on how we can become “Inspirational Technology Teachers”. […]

  2. Great advice…. Thanks for all the inspiration, Brad

  3. It’s my aim to let ‘HP’s Happy Blogspot’ to be an Inspirational place, and a meeting point on the Net, I put effort in the supply of Inspirational articles and also I invite my visitors to participate in Inspiring others. (invite participation as you speak of in your post.)

    If you post a comment on HP’s Happy Blogspot you will get ‘On top’ and will be noticed as

    “Posts that recently received Comments”.

    I also appriciate it when others help support HP’s Happy Blogspot by linking to it or by using the ‘Tell a Friend’-form.

    All the Best,
    HP

  4. Fire Them Up! sounds like a great book. I am definitely going to read it. I recently wrote an article titled Super-Charged Tip: Live with Enthusiasm! where I addressed the value of enthusiasm. Take a look and see what you think. Thanks!

  5. Wow! I felt that this blog entry will truly help me with an upcoming public presentation. Thanks for the ideas.

  6. Brad,
    You’re welcome! It’s inspiring for me too.

    HP,
    It’s good to hear your site as a place of inspiration. We need more such sites on the web.

    Jeff,
    Thanks for the information. You have some cool tips in your article to fire up enthusiasm. I especially like tip #1: commit yourself to a cause.

    J. Twilite,
    Good luck for your presentation! I hope you will become a Chief Inspiration Officer 🙂

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