The Bullseye Principle

Chapter 5Inspire and Motivate OthersEngaging Workers and Leading a Team through Change

If you let a person talk long enough you'll hear their true intentions.

—TUPAC SHAKUR

“Your voice makes a difference,” Barack Obama said, recounting an incident that took place during one of the lowest moments of his 2008 campaign for president. As a communicator, Obama's ability to inspire others and connect with a crowd has always been widely regarded as one of his strongest assets. But the story Obama was referencing in this instance was not an example of him providing inspiration, but instead of someone who inspired him and provided the future president with an experience that would define him as a political candidate and leader.¹

It was 2007, in the middle of his first presidential campaign, and things were not going well for Barack Obama. He had flown to Greenwood, South Carolina, for a campaign rally. His alarm had just gone off and he had wakened feeling sick and exhausted from the relentless pace of the campaign schedule. Opening the curtains to his hotel room, he looked out to see the weather was miserable and pouring down rain. He retrieved the newspaper from outside his hotel room and on the front page of the New York Times was a particularly negative story about him. After getting dressed, he walked outside and his umbrella blew open. He was soaking wet. Quite a start to the day.

After a 90-minute drive to the rally site, Obama and his aides arrived to discover an audience ...