Building momentum

A fisherman from the city was out fishing on a lake in a small boat. He noticed another man in a small boat open his tackle box and take out a mirror. Being curious the man rowed over and asked, “What is the mirror for?”

“That’s my secret way to catch fish,” said the other man. “Shine the mirror on the top of the water. The fish notice the spot of sun on the water above and they swim to the surface. Then I just reach down and net them and pull them into the boat.”

“Wow! Does that really work?”

“You bet it does.”

“Would you be interested in selling that mirror? I’ll give you this to you for P2,000.00.”

“Well, okay.”

After the money was transferred, the city fisherman asked, “By the way, how many fish have you caught this week?”

“You’re the sixth,” he said.

That’s a fine catch and this swindler certainly has MOMENTUM. 

Have you ever watched a basketball team scores continuously as they go down the court, forces the opponents to commit turnovers maybe three times in a row and in a situation like this what would the opposing coach do?

He would call a time out.

Why? Because he wants to break the “MOMENTUM!”

When someone tells you you’re “on a roll,” that’s momentum.

When the sales are coming in and money is pouring in that’s momentum.

When the invitations continue to come and every time you give a performance the reviews are all so positive that is momentum.

When you’re consistently beating deadlines on a project, that too, is momentum.

So now you have a big project and so many people are involved.

How do you build momentum to keep your team on course and accomplish your intended goals?

May I offer a couple of suggestions?

The philosophy behind momentum is to first understand that you build momentum by accumulating small successes. 

Doug Firebaugh says: “The secret to Momentum in life can be found in the word Momentum... you create it Moment by Moment...”

The bigger the project, the bigger is the payoff as long as momentum is there.

So here are a few suggestions:

1. Let Momentum Be Part Of Your Plan

Have everyone know that the entire team will push all speed ahead once they know how to create momentum. 

2. Target A Few Small Wins

These may be initiatives that do not cost much, easy to carry out, does not meet much objections and a few small wins give your team the starting push to get momentum going. Choose these small projects; get them done because this is your way of telling the team that you are now on the move. 

3. Let Small Wins Lead To Bigger Goals

The reason why suggestion number 2 is crucial it is because you gain the energy and the zeal and most importantly the optimism to be able to tackle bigger goals. But may I suggest that you focus only on important thing and not too many of them. Trying to do too much at once may cause a diffusion of focus and demoralization in the group. You need at least 1 big win to be able to tackle some more. 

4. Celebrate Your Success

Once you see the successes coming in celebrate publicly. Send e-mails, put it on your company newsletters, congratulate everyone in your team and make sure their bosses are copy furnished. Praising people publicly is one of the best non-monetary motivational tools you can use that prepares them to do more and achieve even bigger goals. 

You need momentum to keep your business or career going. Stay away from inertia, but kick yourself forward and build momentum.

It takes a leader with a grand vision to be able to achieve great success.

Peeking through a peephole is no way to stay motivated when you’re moving toward a goal. The big picture is important. The leader with the big dreams—big goals—big rewards—big faith—is the one who can keep his people moving through obstacles and fatigue and discouragement.  

(Attend Francis Kong’s one-day workshop seminar entitled “Culture of Personal Excellence on Sept. 4, 2008 at SMX Convention Center. For further inquiries contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. 632-6872614 or 09178511115)