Instilling Energy

I had to choose and read a passage from Kazuo Inamori's "Inspiring Your Spirit and Expanding your Business" (PHP Press, 1996). I then had to comment on it and how it relates to my life.

Rather than choosing something that applied to my life and then talk about it I decided to try an experiment. I chose "Instilling Energy" totally at random and then tried to see how it would fit into my life.

Because I love cycling so much, because cycling is what I look forward to the most on my holidays, when I am feeling stressed or when I need a green break, I wanted use cycling as an analogy relating to Mr. Inamori's philosophy on instilling energy in subordinates. When I ride, I traverse all kinds of terrain; from the gently undulating concrete highways of Japan to the thigh-burning, rock and root infested steep, steep single-track deep in the forested mountains of Hokuriku. I face all kinds of challenges, all kinds of weather. Every ride has so many different riding conditions that each time I feel as if I am experiencing everything in life, all rolled into a few hours of grind, sweat and breeze. Some may think that the downhill sections of my rides are the easiest, but in truth they themselves require extreme amounts of leg strength, balance and coordination to avoid the hazards in front of my tires.

When I ride alone I can go at my own pace; hard if I want, really hard if I feel like it or relaxed and lazily if I am so inclined. I sent my own pace. I make the decisions. The rewards for the hard work are great and I reap what I sow. When I ride with my two friends the experience is even more so enjoyable. Why? Because we have to work together, must give each other reassurance and support in the long climbs up and the snake tracks down the mountain. If we go too quickly then someone will burn out too soon and the ride will slow down dramatically or come to a halt. If we go too slowly then the stronger people in the group will tire of the pace and shoot off alone, leaving the others to grumble in the dust. In either situation, the ride is not a complete one; it is not enjoyable for the entire group.

We must work as a team, as a unit. And to do that it is necessary to know the limitations of one another, work with them and around them to pull out the best in each and everyone of us. We feel each other out and help to push so that we can travel further, faster, harder in those times and to stop and enjoy the breeze, green and sun when we want to. All this is done as a team. And from time to time the team members need to borrow energy from one another in order to keep with the team. Everyone does it. And yet no matter how much we help each other out, we know that in the end, it is entirely up to us to get our own bikes up and down the mountain. Nobody is going to ride it for us. Since we are there and we know that we are relying on each other, we are able to draw more energy from within and push ourselves that much harder to achieve our goals.

When my wife, Mayu, comes home from a long day at work on Saturday and the meal is not ready, she often says, "why didn't you make the dinner? I worked all day and you didn't." My reply to that is, "Yes, I did work. Very hard. Just not at the office." Riding up a mountain, climbing a rock face or putting in an eight hour day at the office is all the same. It is work. And it can be pleasurable if you know how to do it. When you work with people at the office there are usually superiors and subordinates. The superiors try to get the subordinates to work as efficiently as they can.

Often it ends in anger, frustration and hurt feelings on both sides. I think that is because the people are not working together as a team; they are not helping each other through the tough times and sharing in the easier times. Whether you are a superior or a subordinate you need to know the limitations of the people with whom you work, and those limitations that you yourself have. When you understand that you can work together, helping when help is needed, asking for assistance when you need it. The whole team unit works smoothly and efficiently. If you show that you have an understanding of the situation, that you have the desire to work hard at what you are doing and also the willingness to help others in time of need then for certain you and the team you belong to will succeed at whatever it is you plan on doing.

****************

My translation of "Instilling Energy",
by Kazuo Inamori

Even if you inspire your subordinates to work hard by giving them an excellent project, if they do not have the spirit to succeed within themselves, it is obvious that they will fail. If you go so far as to set everything up for them and make it as easy as possible, the end results will be the same.

If you can instill in your subordinate the feeling that "I have to get this work done no matter how difficult it is", inspire them with the same work ethics that you yourself have, then there is a good chance they will succeed.

This energy and enthusiasm possessed by the leader of the group needs to be passed along to the subordinate. If you can add your energy to that of the person working with you, then their inspiration will soar.

The order, "Do it." followed by the response, "OK" will produce about a 30% success rate at the very best. If the subordinate responds with, "I will do my best", chances are, they will succeed about 50% of the time. If they believe, "This is my work and no matter how difficult it is I must be successful" and if you can support them with your enthusiasm and energy then about 90% of the time they will achieve their goals.

It is also the role of the leader to help the subordinate understand how much energy and enthusiasm is actually required to achieve a positive end result.

Cam SwitzerMay 17, 1998