The inspirational leader recognizes this truth first and foremost and works to create an environment where people not only want to be part of his something bigger, but will work mightily to do so.  The inspirational leader strives to identify and put into practice those tenets of an environment that we all desire which will motivate and maximize each one of us.

In the first part of our story of classical Greece, our narrator finds himself captured in the midst of the enemy, friendless, unarmed, alone.  Mere hours before, he had been part of something much bigger than himself.  A warship full of rowers, sailors, soldiers, archers and officers.  A fighting machine composed of his fellow Athenian citizens and friends with a purpose and a mission, dedicated to the destruction of the Persian fleet. 

Now, in the early hours of the morning, he finds himself chained to a post, his grief nearly overwhelming.  How he longs to be back where he belongs!  What keeps him going, however, is the recognition that although those closest to him are gone, he is still part of something bigger, though they are far away.  Unlike the ex Spartan King Demaratus, he has not been cast from the tribe, merely temporarily severed from its embrace.

His thoughts turn to Demaratus and to those Spartans that hold the pass.  He recognizes something special in their demeanor, something that defines and separates them from even the other Greek warriors, much less the "barbarian" invaders.  He knows something about the Spartans, though his knowledge is rudimentary.  He understands they have developed a warrior culture in response to their peculiar circumstances.  For already over two hundred years, they have lived by the code of Lycurgus, their lawgiver.  They live by a set of rules that give structure to their lives, rules that separate them from non Spartans from the very day they are born.

This much he knows.  The rest he can sense.  The bonds that unite Spartan warriors are many, strong, and deep.  As we shall see, the deeper and stronger the bonding mechanisms, the more painful the response to expulsion from the tribe. 

The Spartan King, Leonidas, benefits from the environment within Sparta itself that has generated such amazingly powerful bonds.  As our story progresses, much will become clear about inspirational leadership in the context of creating that environment.  Leonidas will prove the power of his inspirational leadership in the crisis that will shortly follow.  Right now, though, he lives and breathes in the moment.   He exists within the womb of the tribe, within an environment he himself has helped to create.  Because he recognizes that everyone wants to be part of something bigger than themselves, he wields at his disposal a formidable fighting machine.

But our narrator also hails from a society where the environment supports the creation of champions.  His home city of Athens is the birthplace of Democracy; an experiment in governing that has matured in fits and starts over the last thirty years.  The environment of Athens is explosive and dynamic.  As structured as Spartan society is, Athens' is not.    Everything within the environment of his proud city state supports innovative thinking, daring, creativity and the maximization of the individual.  He is a product of that environment, as are the inspirational leaders that mount the rostrum of the pnyx, or assembly, on a daily basis to address the citizens of the state.

Two different societies, two very different environments.  Yet inspirational leadership exists within both of them.  What unites them is that every citizen desires to be part of something bigger.  Whether Spartan, Athenian, or modern day mankind, the drive to attach oneself to the greater whole is paramount.

Examples abound in every day life.  From where you sit today, you are the living proof of the power of and the need for attachment.  Your family, friends, schools, alumni associations, athletic leagues, professional societies, job cliques and circles, town councils, political parties and so on and so forth.  An endless stream of attachment that is both fundamental to our nature and vital to our health.

The inspirational leader knows that within each one of us, we possess both this drive and this power.  It is the responsibility of the leader to focus those things within the leader's particular team, or tribe.  Even when failing this task however, it is vital for the leader to recognize that it is not because someone does not WANT to be part of something bigger, it may be that they do not want to be part of what it is that you, as the leader, are selling.

In our work environment, we run into this challenge frequently.  A fellow employee seems to tune out and turn off.  Formerly motivated and helpful, he is now listless, uninterested, or downright hostile.  He has become a "problem" for the organization. 

I ran into this situation early in my career in the Navy.  My first ship was an AE, or ammunition ship.  As an auxiliary, the AE's supported the fleet by providing ammunition and other stores via UNREP, or underway replenishment.  The process of UNREP could be dangerous and was definitely taxing.  Two, or sometimes three ships would sail along side by side only 150 feet apart.  Lines would be passed from ship to ship allowing connecting hoses and hoists to be fitted for the actual transfer of supplies or fuel.  A typical UNREP could take many hours to complete and was not always done in calm seas.  The United States Navy had been doing this procedure for decades and was very good at it.  As an auxiliary, we got the chance to UNREP quite often. 

We had a good crew on my ship, but even a good crew can get over stressed when it is tasked with this kind of work on a continual basis.  As a young junior officer, I came onto my first command with, shall we say, some idealistic assumptions.  While at the Naval Academy, I had been surrounded by motivated people who, like me, were driven to perform 100% of the time.  While we may have groused or complained about life in Annapolis, it was tempered with the realization ultimately, that we were in a pretty good situation.

On my first ship, I expected the same thing from both officers and enlisted people.  A few months in, however, I realized that life outside the walls of the Academy was not so straightforward.

One night, after a particularly long day when our ship had done two consecutive UNREP operations in challenging seas, I was on the bridge as Assistant officer of the deck.  It was 2 AM, halfway through the "mid watch".  Some of the men on the bridge with me, the enlisted sailors who manned the wheel, the engine controls, navigation and the lookouts, had also spent most of the day engaged in the whole UNREP process.  They were tired, fatigued with a bone deep weariness that only comes from many nights and days of very little sleep and unrelenting work. 

As the ship sliced through the now calm waters of the Mediterranean, the occasional comment overheard was tinged with cynicism and bitterness concerning the Navy, their career choice, the day's work.  Disturbed, I waited a little bit, and then asked the Engine Order Telegraph man if he remembered boot camp.  What was it like, I inquired, on graduation day?  Did he remember?

He brightened up at once, and the others leaned in to hear his reply.  "It was great" he said.  "The band playing, the flags flying, my parents and friends were there.  I had never been more proud."  The others chimed in, echoing similar sentiments.  The wonderful uniforms and their sense of accomplishment were all echoed in the looks on their faces as they remembered.  Well, what had happened since then? I continued. Where had all of that pride gone, to be replaced by the cynicism of the much older?  "Reality" they said.  "The Navy".  When they had arrived on the ship, they had expected something far different than they had gotten, a world that lived with the same sense of being part of something bigger that they had left in Boot Camp.

Of course, there were a whole lot of things that went on when they arrived on their first ship, a great many things that made it hard for them to recreate the environment of Boot Camp.  Mostly, it was an already existing aura of cynicism towards the Navy that had taken root and had been fed by each new batch of arrival's disillusionment.  As a result, confusion and bewilderment gave way to cynicism.  From feeling motivated and part of something bigger, they became separated and detached from the group.

In any company, the newly hired employee feels motivated to perform.  They feel a part of something special.  It is helpful for all of us to remember that people were initially hired for a reason, because we thought they were good, or competent, or would be helpful to the company.  If they have become detached, it may be because they no longer feel part of something meaningful, special, or bigger than themselves.  What in the environment that was created gives them that feeling?  What in the "culture" of the company turns them off?  In each situation, the answer may seem to be different.  However, at the core, the answers more often than not revolve around the application or non application of the eight secrets.

The Inspirational leader is aware of these things.  He is aware of both the human need to be part of something bigger and the energy killing result of not.  The inspirational leader seeks to create and MAINTAIN an environment where champions become inevitable, an environment where the need to belong is recognized and nurtured. 

So, how does the inspirational leader do this?