After 50 years of backing entrepreneurs and watching leaders rise and fall, I can tell you the harsh truth:
Inspiration isn’t a speech. It’s not motivational posters or company retreats.
Real inspiration happens when your people watch you make the tough call that everyone else avoided.
When you admit you screwed up instead of blaming market conditions.
When you stay late to fix the problem you created, not delegate it away.
When you share the brutal financials instead of sugar-coating them.
When you defend your team to the board, even when they’re not in the room.
[Email readers, continue here…] I’ve seen CEOs who could deliver TED talks but couldn’t inspire a single employee to stay past 6 PM.
And I’ve seen quiet leaders who never said a word about “inspiration” but had teams that would run through walls for them.
The difference?
One group tried to inspire through words. The other inspired through actions.
Your people don’t need you to be inspirational.
They need you to be worth following.
What did you do today that made someone want to follow your lead?
