eight fantastic ways to inspire others

Going through SEAL training teaches you a lot of things. You learn how to concentrate. You develop the ability to persevere. You come to understand the transient essence of pain. Most importantly, you learn how to conjure up the last sliver of inspiration to get you through the day.

Whether in the boardroom or on the battlefield, effective leaders must select the right strategy for the right task. Inspiring others can take several forms.

1. Concentrate on your relationships. “Nobody cares how much you know before they know how much you care,” was one of the first quotes I learned when I started my current job. Looking back on my special operations experience, I can say that the SEALs never completed a mission without the assistance of other government departments or counterparts. All was linked, and it was all about "who you knew" (much like everything else in the world).

2. Let go of your ego. Allow your acts to speak for themselves if you really want to influence people. It's an old adage that still holds true today, but if you're that good at anything, no one needs to know because they already know.

3. Determine who will win. When you know what winning feels like (i.e. the end-state), all you have to do is zig and zag your way there. Identify exactly what you're going for and make sure your people do, too, to maximise your potential and avoid wasted effort. When contact breaks down, redundancies emerge.

4. Make use of high-level talent. There were moments when we only had a few operators on the ground because the project only needed that. Act backwards to determine who belongs where until you've narrowed down the ideal end-state. If the same names keep cropping up, it's time to think about succession planning.

5. Allow them to go. Allow the human need for autonomy and significance to flourish by releasing the reins. People want to do well and excel, but process always stifles opportunity. This is referred to as "the intent motive" by Daniel Pink in his best-selling book Drive. Instead, give people a goal, a deadline, and the power to act.

6. Pay attention to what is being said. Listeners can be divided into two categories: those who want to learn and those who want to be understood. The former are eagerly waiting for you to stop talking so they can talk, while the latter are nervously waiting for you to stop talking so they can talk.

7. Keep your enthusiasm in check. People who are overly enthusiastic, optimistic, sad, or pessimistic are social hand grenades, which is why emotional intelligence (EI) is so critical. EI consists of four parts: self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management, and is described as one's ability to perceive emotions in oneself and Curbing your excitement lies squarely in the centre of all four, and no one wants to be near a grenade when it's thrown.

8. Speak up. People want to know two things: where you stand on a particular issue and where they stand with you. When people are unsure of how others value them, they become enraged and jealous. I believe that most news is good news because, no matter what, there is still something to learn. Always take something away from you that will help you become a better person.

You want to motivate others to concentrate on the one resource you have control over: yourself. Your acts, to be precise. Aim to do at least one of the above things every day, and you'll be surprised at how much inspiration you'll get.