ESSENTIALS MANAGEMENT Competition inspires. People instinctively want to be the best. But you don’t have to be talking about competition with another company or a common enemy. You an talk about competing with last year’s numbers, last month’s customer pipeline, etc. People want to compete with themselves. But if you don’t frame things in this way, you’re missing out on that source of motivation. Express the conifdence you want people to have in themselves and the organization. Act as if it’s already been earned. You know something they don’t. You see the successful outcome already. According to Faul, this was another strength of General Mattis. Shortly atfer 9-11, Faul found himself in Kandahar listening to Mattis give a speech to 300 Marines. “I remember, we were all extremely nervous but not admitting it. Candidly, we were scared and we had no idea what was going to happen,” he says. “The general didn’t ignore this. He talked about the sacriifces he knew we were all making, and how natural it is for humans to feel fear. But then there was a turn and he shared, plainly, how conifdent he was in each and every one of us. He reminded us about our training, how prepared we were, and how he was certain that we would triumph.” That speech touched on so many of the great storytelling mechanisms: He empathized with how he knew the Marines were feeling. He held up the example of those that had excelled in training. He challenged them to rise to the higher purpose they were serving, and he expressed unqualiifed conifdence in their abilities. “I remember feeling this incredible level of strength and optimism atfer hearing that speech,” says Faul. “I had probably exchanged three words with this man, but the story he told about us and our training made me trust him and trust myself. I remember thinking how the right words can be so powerful. They can make you feel like anything is possible.” 30