Cooperative Passion

I'm putting the final touches today on a corporate speaking engagement I'm doing tomorrow. It got me thinking about the current financial situation.

The company I'm presenting for has had a certain amount of uncertainty amongst it's employees, so they're giving them a fun day out, and have hired me to entertain and inspire them with a sense of vision and teamwork.

I struck me that that's what we all are needing right now. In the current climate of economic uncertainty, we need to know that we're all in this together, and that with a little imagination, some vision, and some teamwork, we can solve the problems at hand. There are plenty of good ideas out there. We just need to work together to make them a reality.

Greed and cutthroat competition have led to our current problems. It's time to try a different approach. It's time to leave behind the climate of fear. It's time to try cooperation.

There's true magic in working with others for a common vision. I realize some would say that it's competition that drives us to excel. But I disagree. I think people confuse competition with passion. It's really not competition that drives high achievers, it's their passion for what they do. And passion is much more powerful when it's shared, rather than being used to "divide and conquer". Shared passion becomes contagious and spreads to those working for that common vision, and returns again and again to each individual sharing it.

I suggest that we would be well served to spend some time considering the power of shared, cooperative passion, for a common, inspiring vision. That's magic indeed!

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One quick announcement before I sign off: I'm going to be appearing on the Morning Show on WEEK-TV (25) on Thursday, October 23, probably sometime around 6 AM. If you're in the Peoria area and tend to get up early enough, tune in and check it out!