What’s Inspiring Employees In Unprecedented Times?

Today I woke up with a new perspective of ROI. Return On Inspiration. I know ROI is a common business term referring to Return On Investment, but have we ever tried to measure the Return On Inspiration?

We all know a team who is NOT inspired will never succeed in the long run. And a person who is NOT inspired will most likely flounder in a pool of mediocrity. After 30 years of running a teambuilding and leadership development business, Odyssey Teams, I get that the traditional ROI is important. We have worked with some of the most significant companies in the world and ROI has definitely been at the top of the conversation when considering the investment required for us to work with their teams. I understand the mechanics of business and how the people looking at the bottom line will push for sound decisions related to financial resources and the diligent use of any business asset to ensure a positive return for future opportunities. Though, an undervalued element to the human side of business is inspiration. Inspiration is not the only thing, but it might be everything. Have you ever been a part of a team that was successful but NOT inspired? If inspiration is not a part of a team or company formula, I can’t image any level of success being lasting.

In the Cambridge English Dictionary the word INSPIRE is defined as: “To make someone feel that they want to do something and can do it.”

I can’t think of a time in our modern history when the word INSPIRE wasn’t more necessary and critical to success and employee motivation than it is NOW. If we agree that inspiring employees is important and if we can agree that we are literally trudging across the desert of no inspiration, the next questions are simple. What inspires you and what inspires your employees? This topic is definitely worth exploring and may just be the Master Key to unlock true success.

How Do You INSPIRE Employees in a Meeting?

Answer: Make their work personal, make their work experiential and make their work matter. Yup… it’s just that simple. If your people are feeling flat and uninspired, a powerful connecting and teambuilding program needs to happen.

Make It Personal:

Simon Sinek famously said… “Start with Why”. I agree. Why should I work here? Why do I want to do a good job? Why does this client matter to me? Freidrich Nietzsche said it like this, “He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how”. The answer to WHY will always be personal, valuable, inspirational and motivational to the individual. People don’t work hard for the company. They work hard because it will bring value to their personal life. A new car, house, security, status, recognition, relationship and so on. All personal things that an individual craves is a result of working hard for the company. It’s OK to remind employees that a strong team and successful company mission will provide them value personally.

Make It Experiential:

Benjamin Franklin said, “Tell me and I will forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I will learn”. Our memory is linked to our emotion. If we do not FEEL the information we will not remember it. In school we learn a lesson and then take a test. In life we get a test and then we learn the lesson. We have all been tested for well over a year. COVID life is an unexpected test and many of the lessons we have learned from this experience DO NOT inspire us, connect us, compel us, engage us or drive us to work collectively. We have learned we need those things, but we are forgetting what they feel like as we focus on simply being safe and secure. A well designed teambuilding program will not just inform people about the power of collaboration, it will engage them in an experience that shows them that power. It will remind them how it feels to be a part of something bigger than themselves and will demonstrate the collective impact they can have when aligned with others toward a common goal. This is actually possible virtually or in an in-person setting.

Make It Matter:

Imagine working hard on a project, only to see it tossed aside or not even considered by the decision makers. We have all had a time when we invested ourselves into something and it wasn’t used. Talk about demotivating. Building a prosthetic hand for a person in need or designing a skateboard for a child with limited opportunities are just a few of the ways we can awaken our purpose through experience and make your next meeting matter. People want to see and feel the impact and value of their contribution in everything they do. Remind your employees of their impact and value by involving them in their community and feel the inspiration return to the soul of your team.

Try This: Ask Your Employees to Keep an Inspiration Journal

The more data the better. Each day they are to record anything that INSPIRED them that day. The law of cause and effect is simple, “For every effect in your life there is a specific cause”. If you want to produce inspiration, you need to know what causes it for your team. If you determine what causes inspiration, then we can go about building the best environment to produce those causes as much as possible.

Look around your life right now, look at your team, look at your company. Are they inspired? Return On Inspiration is the ROI that will drive away darkness and make us believe we can accomplish anything together. For more details on Return On Inspiration and how we can make it happen in your team, contact me Lain Hensley at lain@odysseyteams.com.

Written By:

Lain Hensley

COO & Co-Founder of Odyssey Teams

lain@odysseyteams.com

“Odyssey Teams left us with a common language in which our company can build upon to achieve greatness.”

Pete Brunner, BCSI

“Thank you very much for your help in making my meeting so successful and connecting the dots to all of my key messages in such a meaningful way.”

Tracy Tannenbaum, Heritage Homes

“Much to our delight, our participants had a terrific experience with the Helping Hands activity… and spent the remainder of the conference talking about it! The program that Odyssey Teams has developed is by far the most memorable, fulfilling, and moving “teambuilding” experience we have participated in.”

Brandy L Szever, Vanguard

“Thank you and your team for two great days of training. I couldn’t be more pleased with the training team you assembled, the content and how the material was received by the participants. You listened to our challenges and geared a program that got right to heart of some of our key management/organizational development issues. It was amazing to sit back and watch the light bulbs go on for our managers. I look forward to them taking the learnings back to the work place and applying them.”

Christine Stout, Premier Retail Network

“So many employees have approached to say how moved they were by by the bike build. It was such a positive lesson on working together and asking for help. The afternoon left a mark on everyone who participated in such a positive way.”

Cindy Silva, Ariat International Inc.

“Thank you for putting together and facilitating a fabulous collaboration exercise in Orlando. We’ve done a lot of different team-building activities and other types of exercises through the years, but this one was simply extraordinary. I have lost count of how many participants have grabbed me or emailed me to tell me how impactful it was to them on a professional and personal level. I was showing my kids last night the pictures we took on our iPhones, and they were amazed.”

Elana McFann, United Healthcare

“Odyssey Teams touched our team members, and our team members are taking that feeling and making positive action.”

Gretchen Chismar, Honeywell

“We really had an opportunity to know each other better and to have some fun together in a way that increases our commitment to work together effectively. But the biggest payoff of all was the combined feeling of having accomplished something with such an impact to people around the world.”

Jean E. Deering, Wells Fargo

“Odyssey Teams touched 970 people who are at an impressionable point in their lives. I’m confident that the wisdom and emotion Odyssey shared will positively impact their entire careers.”

Jenna Ballestrino, Microsoft Academy for College Hires (MACH)

“Our team unanimously voted the 3 hours with Odyssey Teams was the most beneficial part of our entire meeting.”

Julie C., BCD Meeting & Incentives

“The Helping Hands event structure + the personal connection to the prosthetic hands have left a lasting impression on our team. Many people still reference the event 90 days later.”

Megan A. Westman, GE Lighting

“The mosaic exercise is one of my favorite things I’ve ever done in Corporate America! What a beautiful outcome from such a simple but effective exercise.”

Jen Matlock, AbbVie

“Mission accomplished! The Odyssey Teams session exceeded every expectation I had. It created a unity with our teams and connected people in meaningful and thought-provoking inner-soul searching ways.”

Michelle Stokes, Merck

“Odyssey Teams wowed everyone. Feedback from executives to new team members has been phenomenal and the lessons learned will be lasting.”

Ralph S. Henderson, AMN Healthcare

“We found that working together for a worthwhile cause gave us perspective on new ways to use our talents to use for the good of others while learning important lessons about our own capabilities. Thank you, Odyssey Teams.”

Tim Somers, Pernod Ricard USA

“In my opinion, Odyssey Teams’ keynote and facilitation set the foundation and tone for an impactful two-day, staff retreat—I’m not sure we would have gotten to that level without Odyssey Teams kicking it off!”

Megan Moser, University of Pennsylvania

“Odyssey Teams provided the perfect foundation and jumping-off point for what our meeting was designed to accomplish. Helping Hands became the metaphor for how our team aspires to work together.”

Julie Person, Shire

“We’ve sung Odyssey Teams’ praises to everyone we know. Odyssey Teams has the unique ability to impact a group at the core with the right amount of humor.”

My-An Le, Kaiser Permanente Great Los Angeles

“Since the program, I have caught myself being myself and working on being a better person, husband, father, co-worker and friend. Perspective is everything…”

Dan Link, SDCDA

“Having experienced team building events all over the world, I must admit that nothing will top the experience we had with Odyssey Teams. Building unity, teamwork, collaboration – seeing real people, extending beyond themselves to help others, has been priceless.”

Kristen Muckleroy, Fiberlink Communications

What’s Inspiring Employees During These Unprecedented Times?

How Do You INSPIRE Employees in a Meeting?

Make It Personal:

Make It Experiential:

Make It Matter:

Try This: Ask Your Employees to Keep an Inspiration Journal

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WHY THE BEST COMPANIES HIRE ODYSSEY TEAMS

There are many reasons why 80% of our business is repeat or referred clients. Companies have been relying on us to power and inspire their workforce for decades.

What’s Inspiring Employees During These Unprecedented Times?

How Do You INSPIRE Employees in a Meeting?

Make It Personal:

Make It Experiential:

Make It Matter:

Try This: Ask Your Employees to Keep an Inspiration Journal

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Leave A Comment Cancel reply

WHY THE BEST COMPANIES HIRE ODYSSEY TEAMS

There are many reasons why 80% of our business is repeat or referred clients. Companies have been relying on us to power and inspire their workforce for decades.