If there is a single lesson to take from this chapter, it is this: Take on projects and tasks and get them done. Action is the surest form of language. Unless you have an unusually large share of charisma, giving rousing speeches and then retiring to your easy chair will get nothing done.

Years of exposure to political, business, and social figures who relaxed in constant comfort while others toiled has made most people mistrustful of authority figures. You can't change that.

What you can do is be sure to take on work yourself in ways that are visible to others on your team. Yes, leaders often do take on work that is invisible to everyone else. So? Many leaders make the same claim as a way of masking their considerable inactivity. If you want to motivate others, go the extra distance. Pick up a task that shows you don't think of yourself as ineligible for regular effort (and be sure never to complain about doing so).

Being fully engaged yourself sends a message to everyone else that there must be a good reason to achieve defined goals and that you don't ask anyone to do something you wouldn't do yourself. Combine that with finding ways to keep yourself motivated, and you send out the message that what your group does has real meaning — and that life doesn't get any better than this. Now that's powerful motivation.