I'm a big fan of Tom Peters. I regularly cite these words of wisdom from November 2007 (intentionally posted in all caps to express his rage):
BOB WATERMAN AND I, IN 1980, DEVELOPED A MANTRA IN THOSE DAYS OF YORE WHEN "STRATEGY [STRATEGIC PLANS] WAS EVERYTHING." WE SAID:
HARD IS SOFT.
SOFT IS HARD.THE READILY-MANIPULABLE NUMBERS ARE THE TRUE "SOFT STUFF."
THE RELATIONSHIPS-LEADERSHIP-"CULTURE"-"ACTION BIAS" [OR NOT] ARE THE TRUE "HARD STUFF."
PERIOD.
END OF STORY.
[I WISH.]
I've learned a ton from his slides, which he makes freely available. And his tweets are to the point and thought-provoking.
So these two exchanges were a high point of my day yesterday:
A colleague saw this and DM'ed me, "I love the world of 2010. Blows my mind on a regular basis."
Agreed. And these exchanges serve to reinforce my perspective on the issues Peters raised, which I see as closely related. We can be infectious agents of enthusiasm, or of any dynamic we want to express in the world (so choose wisely.) And while enthusiasm--like leadership--can't be "taught," we can help others learn about the sources of their enthusiasm, tap into them and cultivate their ability to access those feelings more readily.