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.