Most people seem to think that a good motivational speaker should be an A-list celebrity or perhaps a politician or sports star.  The reality is that, according to the Home Affairs committee of the UK’s House of Commons, young people that are at risk of entering into a life of crime responded best to real people that they could relate to.

Unlike many leadership motivators, who do in fact come from sports or political backgrounds, some motivational speakers come from difficult backgrounds, or have had significant challenges to overcome to achieve success.  Explorers, musicians, and people who have overcome a significant disability all fall into this second category.  It is these people who have a unique opportunity to reach the disaffected youth that the Home Affairs committee refers to.

In recent years, the media has elevated to near-celebrity status a certain breed of crime; specifically, some street gangs such as the Bloods and the Crips, certain killings such as those of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.  With that celebrity has come a corresponding rise in gun and knife crime among youths who are in a position to be strongly affected by the media.  Increased police intervention has been effective at dissuading such activity, but could it instead be overcome through a more positive form of interaction?

No one would ever say that this violence could be justified or that the youths who commit the crimes shouldn’t be punished — but if the crimes could be prevented in the first place, who would deny the rightness of such a measure?

The Home Affairs report indicated that the relevant youths did, in fact, pay attention when parents, police, and teachers spoke to them — but there was a strong finding that such kids also felt drawn to people who had overcome significant challenges and achieved greatness.  Here lies the opportunity for motivational speakers to change the futures of these children.

By channeling the kids’ energies away from emulating what they see on the news and toward more constructive and fulfilling endeavors, motivational speakers can persuade youthful offenders and potential offenders from (re-)offending.

Motivational speakers, according to the UK government, have a definite place in the effort to reduce the amount of violent crimes committed by young people, specifically by redirecting the sources of their self-esteem away from violent examples provided by some media and toward constructive archetypes.  By showing youths that they can be valued for their ability to help others rather than claim territory and generate money for a gang, young offenders can be guided towards community service and furthering their education.

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To most observers, the transformation that a motivational speaker can effect on a person seems like an apotheosis — something divine, unaccomplishable by mere mortals.  Top executives of major corporations think of a motivational speaker as able to read people and coax or cajole them to perform better in their chosen fields — and thereby improve the effectiveness of their company as a whole — but no one seems to be able to pin down how this change occurs.

An effective leadership speaker will cause people who listen to speak in terms of ‘waking up’, or the speaker having ‘reached into my soul’, and inspire the speakers to ‘put their all’ into their endeavors.  Such a consultant will put forth workshops and presentations that change those who experience them on a profound mental and emotional level.

When an assignment is completed effectively, efficiently, and profitably, it is because the motivational factors behind that assignment have been properly evoked.  This can and does happen by accident or coincidence, but it is the job of the professional motivator to ensure that it can happen on demand.

Quite often, a company’s managers create a negative emotional atmosphere within their workplace for reasons that vary from personal failures to a perceived prejudice on the part of their superiors.  These negative vibes create a motivational vacuum that is all but invisible to upper management, but can ruin a company’s effectiveness.  The motivational consultant’s job is to overcome these unknown emotional hurdles and achieve an upbeat atmosphere capable of effective work.

The motivational speaker isn’t teaching his listeners anything that they don’t already know.  Rather, his goal is to ‘retune’ his audience to be more attentive to their latent talents and ingrained abilities.  By offering a variety of methods to develop and measure one’s inner spirit, and thus enhance one’s overall level of motivation, a leadership speaker can inspire a person to view — and tackle — his problems from a different perspective.

The most effective motivational speakers are able to get an audience of thousands to stop focusing on their problems and start focusing on their opportunities; to see the nadirs of their lives as the prequels to the zeniths which will follow.  This causes the audience to view ‘tomorrow’ as a source of hope and success rather than dismay and drudgery.

Such leaders never trivialize or deny the problems facing their audiences, but re-frame them as prospects for positive change.   By making this change in the minds of the audience, the motivational speaker changes very little in the listeners — but he creates the ability in each individual for that person to change himself…and therein lies the true miracle.

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If you’ve never had the opportunity to listen to a motivational speaker, then you are really missing something!  The whole atmosphere is totally charged with positive energy, and everyone leaves pumped and ready to go out and conquer the world.  But even when we can’t be at one of these terrific motivational events, the words of these leaders and great leaders through history are always here to guide us. Read on and be inspired!

Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu: “True leaders inspire people to do great things, and, when the work is done, their people proudly say, ‘We did this ourselves’.”

Goethe: “What you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has a genius, power and magic in it.”

William Smithburg of Quaker Oats on making mistakes: “There isn’t one senior manager in this company who hasn’t been associated with a product that flopped.  That includes me. It’s like learning to ski. If you’re not falling down, you’re not learning.”

Eddie Cantor:  “It takes twenty years to be an overnight success.”

George Bernard Shaw: “Success covers a multitude of blunders.”

Somerset Maugham: “It’s a funny thing about life. If you refuse to accept anything but the best, very often you get it.”

Franklin Murphy while working for Times-Mirror Corp.: “People have a stake in an idea if they have participated in its creation; then they’ll work much harder, in a much more dedicated way, to bring it to success.”

Edwin H Land- Founder of Polaroid: “The first thing you naturally do is teach the person to feel that the undertaking is manifestly important and nearly impossible,….That draws out the kind of drives that make people strong, that put you in pursuit intellectually.”

David Lloyd George: “Don’t be afraid to take a big step when one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.”

Sam Walton: “Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self esteem of their personnel.  If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.”

Conrad Hilton: “Success seems to be connected with action.  Successful people keep moving.  They make mistakes but they don’t quit.”

Nelson Mandela:” There is no passion to be found in playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”

Andrew Carnegie: “No man will ever make a great leader who wants to do it all by himself or to get all the credit for doing it.”

Henry Ford: “One of the great discoveries a man makes, one of his greatest surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.  Most of the bars we beat against are in ourselves-we put them there and we can take them down.”

Vince Lombardi: “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”

Simon Walker: “When you are faced with a decision- always choose the bolder option. The most extraordinary things are created by ordinary people.”

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