"Drive" is a concept that's nearly impossible to define. Ask 10 people how they personally define drive and you’re liable to get 10 different answers. Is it merely a stand-in word for motivation? And, most relevant to leadership, is drive even definable? How do we quantify it?
The problem is often that we’re focusing on the definition of drive itself, and not what happens when our drive is engaged. Drive is the unyielding determination to achieve your goals, but what does that look like on a daily basis?
I’ve always measured drive in the same way we measure the wind. We can’t physically see its gusts whipping through the air, but we can see flags snapping at their poles and trees bending against an invisible force. We can see drive in our coworkers because we can see its effects and the behaviors that flow out of it, not because we can see the thing itself. It’s an experiential trait, and it’s key to everything we do.
The drive of our leaders and employees alike is so critical to the success of the organization that the behaviors they display – these are the trees reacting to the wind – will determine the cultures we create in the workplace and the profit we generate on the bottom line.
The way I define drive is in six observable behaviors. If you can demonstrate all six, then your personal and professional life can’t help but flourish. Over the coming weeks, we’ll delve into all six and explore the intricate details of why each is important on its own, but vital as part of a collective. Here’s a preview of each.
1. The first is passion driven from an internal purpose. The fire burning in us that drives us to do bigger and better things emanates from a passion that never lets the fire die. If your internal purpose is to perform and make people happy, then it’s natural that your outflowing passion might be singing or dancing. Find that internal purpose and your passion will naturally follow. And once you find your passion, your drive will be charged for life.
2. Next is the ability to be self-directed and managed. I travel to speaking engagements and conferences roughly 100 times per year, so it’s not feasible to micromanage my team and expect that to be the norm. The greatest praise a leader can receive is that the standard doesn’t drop an inch when they’re not around. A team able to operate this way can weather any storm.
3. Another key behavior observed from drive is bringing positive energy to every situation. Dr. Wayne Dyer says that once we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. Negative energy is both mentally and physically draining, and if we can tilt our behavior toward the positive side of the spectrum, we’ll be naturally driven to fill our mental basket with more drive-producing positivity.
4. The fourth is recovering from setbacks with renewed energy. One constant in life is the winter that follows the fall. If we know those challenges and setbacks are coming, then the only thing we can physically control is our own reaction to the stimulus. Once we take ownership of that, we’re able to drive through whatever problems arise with our tanks full.
5. Drive also manifests itself through creatively turning problems into opportunities. There isn’t always an easy way around a career roadblock, but all of us have at one time or another been forced to navigate one. One thing the most successful people have in common? They’ve found creative out-of-the-box ways to jump clear of those hurdles and kick on to bigger and better things.
6. Finally, the sixth is our X-Factor behavior, the moments of distinction that help you rise above and beyond your own personal leashes: actively supporting the achievements of others. So often our society asks us to point our career compass inward and simply look out for ourselves, but true X-Factor employees are constantly seeking out moments to bolster, help and promote their teammates. The strength of the bundle is always exponentially greater than the strength of a single stick.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be exploring each of these behaviors in depth, one by one. Join me as we seek to define drive not by any traditional sense of the word, but by how it looks in our daily lives. At its core, drive is pulling on our heartstrings while external motivation clumsily and inefficiently pushes us in the back.
Which one will you choose?
