The WOW! Factor
Let’s imagine that the
Leader-Ship is a huge cruise ship. Why did you choose to be here? When you talk
to people about your organization, do they get that WOW? WOW stems from passion
and creates more passion. What’s the WOW factor that keeps people coming back
each day?
“Be passionate about it or don’t do it.” –Rudnesky
According to
urbandictionary.com The WOW factor is: “The distinctive appeal
that an object, behavior or person has on others. An impressive display brought
on by a certain object, behavior or person.”
When you walk into our
building, we want you to get that WOW! Factor. We absolutely need that
distinctive appeal that makes us different in a positive way. When you talk to
someone about our organization, we want you to get that WOW! Factor. Some
contemporary leadership literature documents that you don’t need enthusiasm to
be an effective leader. I disagree. I see that enthusiasm carry over to all
aspects of our organization. Enthusiasm generates enthusiasm.
I work in a school, and you
may think some of the examples I use won’t work in your organization. Keep an
open mind. I think these examples will work in any organization. We’ve had
people from all over the world visit our organization from as far away as
Japan. One of the common threads is happiness. We had a visitor a few weeks ago
state that the first thing she noticed was smiles. WOW, got that one!
Another common thread is
kindness. Granted, we certainly are not perfect at it, but we practice on a
daily basis. Each year the New Jersey Department of Education requires all
schools to have a Week of Respect. I
think it’s lame because we should practice respect all year. So I asked the
mayor of our town for a proclamation declaring the whole year, a “Year of Respect.” And that’s what he
did. WOW!
“I start
with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders,
not more followers." --Ralph Nader