Go big! Lead with personal passion

Sharing your ideas with others takes courage and commitment. Brilliant ideas and the value they generate can come from an array of people, from the most charismatic to the quietly introverted. History show us that great innovations have come from diverse people and personalities who purposefully adopt and tap into leading big ideas skills. People I met with had challenges with how time consuming it is to generate interest and support, and how difficult but important it is to create a great pitch. The solution to both and your go big leader principle is to lead with personal passion and conviction.

Successful go big leaders are so passionate about their ideas that they fully invest their energy to make it succeed. They think about their ideas constantly. They engage not only their co-workers, but also their friends, relatives, and anyone who will listen!

I spent the whole Christmas break working on my idea - gathering data, writing it up, preparing a presentation to communicate it.

~Workshop participant

What ideas inspire you?

Think of your own ideas. What ideas inspire your dedication and commitment? How do you feel? Are you energized or deflated? Notice how the idea feels in your body. How does your voice sound when you talk about it with others? Did you sit in a coffee shop and write six pages? If not, maybe this is an idea for someone else to lead, not you.

I've been considering how to start up some kind of tech incubation project in Maine. It's a great idea; There are resources and support, along with a much lower startup cost while still being only 3 hours from Boston. But every time I tried to sit down and work on it I felt heavy and stuck. Then a colleague of mine starting talking about clean energy. What if we could make it much simpler for home owners to navigate green energy choices? What if technology could play a role in getting Northeastern buildings off of fossil fuels. I felt my energy for this conversation increase dramatically. The key is to stay focused on leading the ideas that connect with your own passion and conviction. When you fully embody an idea in this way, others instinctively want to join you.

Enslow Group's soon to be published book, "Go Big - Lead From Where You Sit" is based on decades of interactions with successful non C-Suite innovators. We've collected a set of principles that anyone can adopt and practice to be more successful leading large cross-organizational innovation and change initiatives. Can't wait to share it with you!