I thought long and hard the other day and wondered what I really like. What drives me and motivates me? What is the thing I never run out of energy for. Well, I like being inspired and it is the people in my life that inspire me. They inspire me to be driven. They inspire me to be creative. They inspire me to inspire others.

A long time ago I was an intern … I had a boss who had this crazy amount of knowledge (I’m pretty sure I’d own him now). For almost three hours every day he would sit with me just teaching me about the things he knew. We were making content management systems for various websites and while not the most complex thing ever this was quite a learning experience for me. He was able to inspire me because he was passionate and I could tell he really was interested in my learning. I pushed myself because I got excited about it, and I got excited about it because he was excited about it.

I started my first job at a small company. There was no one very good in my area of expertise and it forced me to be very self reliant. At this point in my life I learned to inspire myself. I became intrinsically motivated because I loved what I was doing. I pushed myself to be better every day at work and every night when I went home. I was probably a bit too punishing on myself but I was excited and happy to be spending the time learning and working. Eventually the company started growing and pretty soon I had a few more people I was able to mentor just like my first boss had done for me.

Not long after that I started my teaching career. I had the opportunity to inspire people on a subject I loved. I was able to reach more people at once and it was fantastic. This is also where I learned people get excited from very different methods of communication. It was very interesting to me to see that Student A would react to more abstract thinking and philosophy and Student B would react more to examples and process. I eventually found a good mix that allowed me to connect with my students faster as a whole and then focus my delivery on an individual level. Teaching inspired me to teach others more effectively.

I decided I’d stop teaching and focus more on the people I work with. I really care about these people and they are the ones that I wanted to succeed. I figured the difference between someone good and someone great is the fact that a great person can show another person how to be great. I wanted to instill that in my team even if it wasn’t in such easy terms. I wanted them to have an aura of leadership. I wanted them to live the giving back mentality. I wanted them to act as inspiration for others and the more they did the more fired up I got.

Fast forward a few years (omg I’m getting old): Most of the people on my team have been with our company a long time. They are truly amazing and I have had a blast seeing them developing and start taking on that leadership role I saw in their future so many years earlier. I hope they can tell how happy I am to see it! They are constantly inspiring me with the crazy things they are taking on and trying to do. They are inspiring me to push for them because I believe in them.

What is the next step for me? Well I have a feeling I’ll always be doing something similar to what I am now. I don’t think I am the type of person that can just do a job. My real joy isn’t from launching the next big thing. I have long since realized it is not realistic for me to know everything (although that doesn’t stop me from trying). It is from touching the lives of the people. It is about creating the environment where leaders come to life and inspire others.

Doug likes Inspiration.