Inspire

14/12/2016

I will facilitate a leadership meeting tomorrow. One of the questions I will pose is: ‘Who or what has inspired you most in 2016 – and why?’ We are, after all, approaching the end of this year and it can be valuable to pause in the midst of all the busy-ness of business as usual to reflect, notice, learn, thank and celebrate. At the same time, as we reflect on the why question, it will touch and reveal our underlying beliefs and values. It’s something about who and what matters most to us in life.

Our responses to the inspire dimension will also say something important about ourselves and the cultures we inhabit – although these often lay out of awareness, more implicit to us than explicit. Psychodynamic theory refers to this phenomenon as projection. It’s as if we sometimes notice qualities in others that we don’t see in ourselves. I may project these qualities outwards and see the image that I project…and yet I attribute what I see to you rather than to me – or to us.

That said, however, it can be and feel truly life-giving to gaze, even for a moment, at the amazing qualities of people and things that inspire us. To be inspired is to be impacted. Something shifts, something changes. It evokes and energises a dynamic within and between us. This is the influence of role models. It is something we do well to pay attention to as leaders, coaches, OD and trainers too. As one colleague put it: ‘We are always influencing – but not always in the way we hope!’

Without doubt, the person who has inspired me most this year is a young woman, a Filipina, who gives her life, day-by-day, selflessly and unselfconsciously to love and care for others. To meet, to see, to feel, the way she lives and engages with the people around her, especially the poor, has been nothing short of breath-taking for me. It has challenged and inspired me deeply to be a more loving and outward-focused person. So…who or what has inspired you most in 2016 – and why?

76 Comments

Tara Parker

14/12/2016 04:30:11 pm

Who has inspired me? I think it is fair to say that once you have reached a certain level of self-awareness you realize it is not just one person that inspires you but many. This year I was inspired by the man who had to tell me I was being laid off; I was inspired by the man that broke my heart, by the woman that let me down, and then woman who lifted me up. I was inspired by my instructors. I was inspired by people on videos I don't know and will not meet. I was inspired by writers/bloggers. I was inspired by my children. I was inspired by me. Maybe we are inspired not because of the person but because we are in a point in our lives where we are ready to be touched by others, nurtured by their experiences and ready to hear their words. Sometimes we are inspired because we need to be and we open ourselves up to that opportunity though we may not consciously know it. We are usually inspired when we least expect it which makes for the most impact leaving us breathless.

Nick Wright

14/12/2016 04:36:51 pm

Hi Tara. Thanks for sharing such honest and profound reflections from personal experience. It sounds like you have been through quite a year! I agree that when we feel inspired, it says something about how we are, where we are at, what is important to us in that moment etc. In other words, that which inspires us is often that which strikes a chord, resonates at some level, with something that already lays deep within us. I think your reflections also raise an interesting question: how open and ready am I to be inspired by others..?

Peter Price

15/12/2016 09:56:24 am

I am inspired by Janet Attwood for her energy and myself for my audacious dream.

15/12/2016 09:57:07 am

Hi Peter. Inspired by self is an interesting idea! :)

Dr Joanna Wilde

15/12/2016 10:19:34 am

Thanks Nick, led to some reflections-which I trust you don't mind me sharing. When running ODD programmes in the past, I have also used this focus on 'inspiration' to generate conversation about why we do things (as a break from how we get things done). I have on occasion however found that attention to inspiration alone can have a back fire effect -the impact where people feel inadequate because they don't feel they measure up (a consequence of over-active social comparison processes running in workplaces). I have therefore been getting more and more interested in how we can safely access experiences of vulnerability in a contained way that enables self-empathy. This is very much in line with the emerging focus of positive psychology on the importance of how we handle adversity and the place of social context as either enabling growth or trauma from adversity ....

15/12/2016 10:25:19 am

Hi Joanna. Thanks for sharing such interesting and stimulating insights. I think the potential 'back fire effect' (what a great expression!) resonates well with some thoughts and ethical questions in a previous short piece: http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/head-in-the-sand It also connects with psychodynamic ideas around 'idealisation' where we may place other people on pedestals which, rather than motivate us, make us feel even more inadequate. Working with people to acknowledge and address vulnerability sounds like one useful way to address this.

Mark Neild MBA CMgr FIOEE FInstLM

15/12/2016 02:38:19 pm

Nick, Great topic. I am constantly inspired by those who have little and innovate to make the absolute most of it. Two African entrepreneurs that I have coached this year spring to mind. One from Kenya has invented a solar back pack that powers a light for kids to study by after dark, thereby reducing the deaths caused by kerosene lamps. Best of all, she is manufacturing it in Kenya to prove that offshoring to Asia is not always cheaper. Another from South Africa is using his roof-top solar installation business to teach unemployed how to be installers. This gives him a cost advantage, but his employees feel so beholden that they always over deliver - giving him a great source of referral leads. Sometimes in corporate life we need to take the time to "get out of the building" to see what good really looks like. Only then can we see what our fellow workers are truly capable of given the right environment.

15/12/2016 02:39:59 pm

Thanks Mark. What incredibly inspiring stories of innovation! It lends credence to the saying that, 'necessity is the mother of invention.

Nik Haidar

16/12/2016 10:01:50 am

Pure innovation. Will look forward to hearing more about these guys sometime soon Mark.

16/12/2016 10:02:20 am

Me too, Nik!

Lue Glover Wilson

15/12/2016 02:41:07 pm

Grayson Perry. The more I hear him speak the more I am impressed by his intellect, imagination, complete inclusivity, and grounded attitude. He really inspires me in many ways.

15/12/2016 02:42:22 pm

Thanks Lue. Do you have any links to, say, talks by Grayson Perry that you could point others towards here?

Dave Sharp

15/12/2016 02:43:29 pm

My nominee is Kate Cowie (http://www.odneurope.org/about-us/kate-cowie/). I took part in a two day Organisational Development retreat this year, with colleagues from the Health service. It was facilitated by Kate and included a 1:1 discussion which is still making me think about how I work and what I can contribute.

15/12/2016 02:44:10 pm

Thanks Dave. Sounds like Kate had a lasting impact!

Stella Goddard BA (Hons) Registered MBACP (Accred)

15/12/2016 04:40:10 pm

I have been inspired by many people this year but I would like to highlight my colleagues at The Eaves, Bridget Walford and Stefan Kelly. When I met Bridget in 2012 she talked about The Eaves being a one-stop shop for individuals, couples, families, children, businesses. This really resonated with my own heart for a counselling practice which is much bigger than I am. As they established first Godalming, then Farnham and now Guildford their integrity and focus has remained the same. They have demonstrated the importance building gradually and being clear about their vision. We have talked about what it is that is so special about this organisation which offers Counselling and Psychological Services in Surrey. We are agreed that it is relationship - with one another, with the community and with our clients who come from all walks of life. Mental health is so important. I am delighted to be a part of their vision which resonates with my own.

15/12/2016 04:42:24 pm

Hi Stella. I think that affirms the notion that we are often inspired most by people whose vision, beliefs and values resonate with our own!

Robert Dallmann

15/12/2016 04:46:59 pm

I assume you mean other than the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? :-)

15/12/2016 04:48:03 pm

Hi Robert. You may want to think in terms of in and through whom have you witnessed and experienced God at work?

15/12/2016 04:57:01 pm

Jay Sekulow, Ken Hamm, Ray Comfort, and Franklin Graham are some that really inspire me...

15/12/2016 04:57:39 pm

Hi Robert. What is it about them that inspires you?

15/12/2016 05:30:59 pm

Largely their unwavering stand for Biblical TRUTH...

Jay Sekulow in his legal defense of Constitutional rights from a Christian perspective... (ministry = ACLJ)

Ken Hamm in his defense of the inerrancy of a literal reading of Genesis... (ministry = Answers In Genesis)

Ray Comfort in his fervent, burning, love of people and evangelism... (ministry = Living Waters)

Franklin Graham for ardently standing up for the TRUTH in the public arena... (ministry = Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)

15/12/2016 05:31:29 pm

William C. Hensel

16/12/2016 10:10:18 am

Hi, Nick. This is a question I'd like to carry into the new year--the past one is something of a blur, and I'm not certain I can recall all or even most of the people who have been of real inspiration. I'll try to do better in 2017 :-). Meanwhile, among mortals, I'm most inspired by my wife, Katherine, who continues to deal with the ravages of Alzheimer's disease with astonishing patience, humility, joy and charity. She brings delight to many who seek, often with inital foreboding, to care for her; and to me, as her husband and primary caregiver, she embodies amazing grace, forgiveness and love. We've been coping with Alzheimer's for a decade, roughly. She took great care of me for thirty years before this came, and I figure I owe her another twenty, at least.

16/12/2016 10:15:27 am

Hi William - and thank you for sharing such an open, honest, moving, humbling and inspiring personal account. Katharine and you sound like truly amazing people...and a truly amazing couple. Reading your note just now certainly inspired me! May Jesus bless you both in the deepest ways...and all those around you...in the days, months and years to come.

Peter Oliver

16/12/2016 10:16:03 am

Bless you William. Bless you and Katherine, both.

Sarah Clark

16/12/2016 10:16:59 am

My grandmother RIP always, she would always say how lucky she was, and tell me to go for it 'you won't know unless you try, Sarah'. She fought cancer, went to yoga and dance classes, never drank, was the life and soul of the party, after losing her hair she wore a blond wig which let my grandad call Charlie and lived until 92.

16/12/2016 10:17:45 am

Thanks Sarah. What an incredibly spirited woman!!

Andrea Sheehy

16/12/2016 10:24:49 am

Whenever I'm feeling that the human race has lost its way I think of dame Daphne Sheldrick and her wonderful team. They have single handily raised over 200 infant elephants who have been genuinely orphaned due to poaching or human conflict. Over a hundred are now back in the wild, but I love that they come back to show their own wild babies off or just to visit. The relationships that Daphne has developed based on true respect and love is amazing and are a pleasure, I think, that nature bestows on those who take care of her plants and people. But the entire team do remarkable work and have been doing so for decades in very difficult conditions.

16/12/2016 10:27:34 am

Hi Andrea. That is great to hear - especially now that elephants like so many other species are at real risk of extinction. It is good to hear stories that inspire hope.

Meshell R Baker, MBA

16/12/2016 10:29:53 am

My aunt & uncle who have lived an incredibly faithful and humble life. And they have carved an amazing legacy!

16/12/2016 10:32:56 am

Thanks Meshell. Legacy is a great question to ponder as we think about the year ahead...

Allison Dolan

16/12/2016 01:46:43 pm

I wonder whether Hillary or Trump will be on people's lists...

16/12/2016 01:47:20 pm

Hi Alison. Who will be on your list..?

17/12/2016 05:12:50 pm

Based on the definition "aroused, animated, or imbued with the spirit to do something" (which doesn't say anything about good or ill), I'd say Trump. He inspired me to turn off the TV, research more, laugh more, post more, cry more

17/12/2016 05:13:49 pm

Sounds like at least he proved evocative and provocative for you! :)

Funmi Ade

16/12/2016 01:48:32 pm

I have to say I wasn't particularly inspired. Syria, Yemen, Brexit, Far Right, drought, Ukraine... its enough to make an optimist a pessimist!

16/12/2016 01:58:42 pm

Hi Funmi. Every silver lining has a cloud..? ;)

Lorraine Toni Morris

17/12/2016 05:06:24 pm

Hey Nick! my inspiration for the year came from a group of 14 young orphaned/abandoned girls aged between 13 - 17 with whom i ran a vision board exercise for. Their vision boards were so full of hope, love, inspiration and colour!

17/12/2016 05:07:24 pm

Hi Lorraine! That sounds wonderful. I would love to see the vision boards!! :)

David Rosenbaum

17/12/2016 05:19:54 pm

Front-line service delivery people working for nonprofit organisations continue to inspire me. They are focused, give of themselves, passionate about the well-being of their clients and continue to be innovative in how they deliver these services, in the context of an economic environment that appears to value them less than than those involved in more commercial driven initiatives whose primary focus is on making money beyond anyone's ability to spend it. They provide a vision for how a society can grow by being primarily focused on quality of life and their fellow human being, and less focused on how we might continue to squeeze our environment and get the most out of every deal.

17/12/2016 05:21:53 pm

Hi David. I've worked with non-profits for most of my adult life and what you describe here certainly resonates with my experience of the people I've had the privilege to work with.

Jane Bodine, LCPC

18/12/2016 10:21:43 am

I think two: one my daughter-who has created a very successful vegan pie business as she followed her passion and it is to be a pastry chef, not to go to college and grad school as was somewhat scripted. She loves creating and is surely a pastry artist. To see her happy and independent creates great joy in my heart. Second, all the groups that facillitatied world meditations and protests at Standing Rock with the indigenous people. That totally touched me to see and hear the speeches, to see how it made incremental changes, and to band together in love, peace and harmony against greed and indignity. That too inspired me tremendously. I stand with Standing Rock.

18/12/2016 10:22:50 am

Thanks for sharing two such inspiring examples, Jane!

Craig Hedge

18/12/2016 10:29:15 am

Luke Beveridge (senior coach of the AFL team Western Bulldogs in Australia - premiers for 2016) stands out as the person who most inspired me.
Why?
His ability to get the best out of people, to bring people together, to put himself and his emotions out there, and to bring others along for the journey was a standout.
And this all done in a competitive environment with numerous events and situations going against them.
His ability to not put a ceiling on expectations or performance, and to back his people in, produced demonstrated results and redefined a club.

18/12/2016 10:30:05 am

Sounds like a great example of a sports coach, Craig.

Sue Williams Brawn, ACC, PACG

18/12/2016 09:28:56 pm

Donald Trump. Let me explain. I'm not an American so he's not about to become my president, thankfully. But he's in my face all the time anyhow in every medium - so I've chosen to see him as a constant reminder of what happens when we take our advances (as women, diverse groups, people who care about the environment, etc) for granted. He's a constant reminder that the path of least resistance might be to live in a world of assumptions, but it's also a really destructive path. He's a reminder of the problems created when we come up with answers before we pause to figure out what the questions is.

18/12/2016 09:29:56 pm

Hi Sue. Sounds like Trump represents something like 'anti-hero' for you?

David (Dave) Hetherington

18/12/2016 09:31:17 pm

Excellent Nick!

I am inspired by the fact that we have people (big dirty grey, black fossil fuel lobbyists - not the lobbyists, themselves - but the old technology industries they represent) suggesting human interference in climate has had no discerning impact on our beautiful World and, these ugly businesses want to continue to pillage and raid 19th Century technologies of coal and oil when - we humans - have developed technologies that are effective and efficient and more healthy for all Earth's species.

I am inspired to get up and fight against this barbarianism on a daily basis and add my, very small, input to this massive imposition by these behemoths.

I love what I do and I do what I love... anything more inspiring?

18/12/2016 09:33:45 pm

Thanks Dave! Interesting how often we are inspired and spurred into action by a cause that entails influencing, changing or resisting something we profoundly disagree with!

David Harrell

19/12/2016 04:29:43 pm

Jesus Christ for the 60th time in 60 years.

19/12/2016 04:30:24 pm

Hi David. Yes!! :)

Jason Evans, MA, RCC

19/12/2016 07:23:29 pm

Irvin Yalom. Read The Gift of Therapy this year for the first time after watching the documentary Yalom's Cure. Such the humble master . Now reading his book Creatures of the Day....such a great story teller!

19/12/2016 07:25:00 pm

Hi Jason. That takes me back to my postgrad studies in psychological coaching!

Rosie Barfoot

20/12/2016 11:55:49 am

I like your article Nick. Michelle Obama inspired me with her dignity and oration at a difficult time. She seemed to shine out as a light of integrity in a pretty ugly period of rhetoric.

20/12/2016 11:57:10 am

Thanks Rosie. Yes, she seems to come across as very natural too...although it's hard to know what is 'real' these days..!

Maureen Oesch, MSc., RMFT

21/12/2016 10:01:25 am

I appreciate your question Nick. I have been influenced by many, encouraged by many, and supported by many, friends and family members - including my two young sons (11 and 8 years of age). I have been most inspired by myself. I have come from a very dark, isolating and fearful place of complicated grief through the first months of the year to a very bright, hopeful and courageous place during the last few months of 2016. I am very proud and inspired by the resilience and grit I have cultivated throughout this year and grateful to all those people in my life who have helped me return to my authentic self.

21/12/2016 10:05:08 am

Thanks Maureen. It is good to hear personal stories of hope!

21/12/2016 05:10:07 pm

How inspiring, Maureen! Wonderful to hear.

Joe Cimbak

21/12/2016 05:11:18 pm

We share a similar story Nick. My wife is a Filipina. She is currently in the Philippines and is playing Santa. That doesn't mean just "gifts" but it also means medicine and paying doctors and getting eye exams for family kids and buying stocks of food and helping the family plan the next stages of development for the homestead on the land she bought them. She works in the US as a nurses aide and frankly that's not a high paying job and the income is dwarfed by my own. So I never need her income for our bills and so she is free to use that income as she sees fit. She works tirelessly and faithfully to earn a pittance of salary but at least 80% (I can only guess) goes directly back to the Philippines to help her family. I see the burden in her eyes sometimes because frankly when you are dealing with third world issues there never is enough so priority choices need to be made. I will say that her family absolutely adores and respects her. She is the baby of the family but they all treat.

21/12/2016 05:14:18 pm

Hi Joe and thanks for sharing such an inspiring story of your wife. It sounds like she shares a similar spirit with this Filipina who holds a special place in my heart. Yes, the scale of need and opportunity can feel quite overwhelming. I'm completely humbled by how this girl gives everything, even of the little she has, to bless others in need.

Daniel Garrett

22/12/2016 08:56:46 am

Baruch Obama--for his decency, his eloquence, his fairness, his intellect; for being a model citizen and political actor amid a world happily going mad... http://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/marchapril-2012/obamas-top-50-accomplishments/

22/12/2016 08:57:47 am

Thanks Daniel. I find him a compelling leader too.

Gaelle Watson

22/12/2016 10:11:03 am

Hi Nick, It is a great question and I have been pondering over it for the last 10min. I fear my answer is a little bit cliché but in the spirit of community I am sharing it with you all. Please don't judge me too harshly.In 2016, I have particularly admire Angela Merkel who have been very moral and courageous even though in a very difficult position. I actually admire and respect her strong leadership.

22/12/2016 10:14:16 am

Thanks Gaelle. I'm curious that you fear your response is cliche and that you may be judged harshly! I too admire Merkel. I don't always agree with her but I do respect her courage, compassion and pragmatic spirit. Sounds like you showed courage too in posting your response. :)

22/12/2016 04:20:40 pm

Thanks for the nice answer, as French born living in post Brexit England, I am conscious that Merkel is not necessarily the most popular choice :-)

22/12/2016 04:23:19 pm

Hi Gaelle. I voted for Brexit, am a staunch internationalist at heart, am pleased to have you as a French born person living in England and feel confident that Merkel's pragmatism will be an asset for all in the Brexit negotiations. :)

Kieran Kulligan

23/12/2016 03:44:25 pm

Change the perspective,if your delegates are 'leaders' ask them not who has inspired them, but whom have they inspired? and why?

23/12/2016 03:49:26 pm

Hi Kieran. I like that. Would be good to ask both - who have you inspired...and who has inspired you. So: who have you inspired this year, Kieran...and who has inspired you?

30/12/2016 07:45:59 pm

Wworking with a very directive and 'tell' culture element of the UK public sector, definitely inspired a number of them to take a more 'coaching' approach to performance conversations. I have been inspired by many of my colleagues on the project, whom continue to amaze me with their knowledge and resourcefulness.

30/12/2016 07:47:58 pm

Thanks Kieran. Yes, interesting how we can be inspired by counter-examples! I once spent 5 years working in a very directive, hierarchical, dehumanising culture and it shaped my values profoundly.

30/12/2016 07:27:16 pm

Thanks Nick. Hope is always a good thing of course, but it is not a strategy. China has just announced a ban on the ivory trade which sounds substantial and better than the UK one. I do believe it is the cumulative affect of organisations such as The David Sheldrick WildLife Trust and of course the elephant orphan foster parents (individualy small but highly important cogs who stand behind them) who are making this difference.

30/12/2016 07:29:30 pm

Hi Andrea. Yes, that is true - and I hope the ban is successful. At the same time, I've worked with charities, INGOs and human rights organisations my entire adult life and, in my experience, it's often hope that inspires and sustains action and strategies for change.

2/1/2017 04:03:57 pm

Absolutely Nick, but I sometimes think (as a general comment, not based on anything said here) hope is used as a weasel word, a sop, as a replacement for action rather than a precursor.

2/1/2017 04:05:25 pm

I understand what you mean, Andrea. Perhaps it's the difference between passive wishful thinking and a bright hope that lights the future and draws us towards it.

Heloise Heau

18/12/2017 01:00:45 pm

Thanks Nick for this beautiful and sincere post.

Many people inspired me this year, on various levels. Some on their leadership and their capacity to create social change, others on the vulnerability they owned and imperfections they embraced, woman for the feminity they carried, refugees for their bravery and resilience and carers for the generosity and kindness they spread.

But what was very significant this year to me was my deeper connexion to nature and the cosmos as a whole. I am inspired by its intelligence ( see documentary The intelligence of trees), its creativity and its resilience. and most of all its abundant generosity . I like the idea that an apple tree gives to everyone, without waiting anything in returns. It doesn't discriminate either to whom it gives its fruit. Poor, rich, muslims, Christians, human or worms, apples are there for everyone.

Now I would also like to think that people I had challenged with this year have challenged me to take a deeper look at myself and know me better ( we are all mirrors after all). Despite how difficult those relationship may have been or the hard situations I had to faced, I like to think they inspired me to be more authentic

I will finish with this quote from Kahlil Gibran: 'I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers'

18/12/2017 09:22:22 pm

Thanks Heloise. It sounds like it has been quite a year for you at so many different levels. It was an inspiring privilege to meet with you today and hear more about your plans for the New Year. I hope you will keep us posted as things progress!

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