Infectious Enthusiasm
The Leadership Skill That Costs Nothing and Changes Everything
The most important leadership skill I've ever learned didn't come from a boardroom, a book, or a mentor. It came from being completely helpless and almost starving to death 45 minutes from my own house.
Besides gaming, music is one of my major passions. I love dancing, going to concerts, and hitting up festivals whenever I can. So when friends told me about a festival featuring many of my favorite artists, less than an hour from my house, I was all in.
Little did I know how woefully underprepared I was.
I had never attended a camping festival before. I had never camped at all, for that matter. How hard could it be? This was practically in my backyard, not some deep-woods expedition. They served food at the event and it was only for a weekend, so I borrowed a two-person tent, grabbed an inflatable mattress, and packed a small suitcase with clothes.
I even brought a few protein bars and snacks to tide me over between all the delicious food they’d surely be serving at the campgrounds. This would be more than enough to sustain my girlfriend and me through three days of dancing with friends.
I have rarely been so painfully wrong in my life.
The food they served at the campground was over a mile from where I was actually camping, and only open during certain hours. The “two-person” tent I borrowed was so small that my feet stuck out the door when I laid down. It wasn’t big enough for one person, let alone two. The inflatable mattress? Within an hour of lying on it, it would deflate completely, and I could feel every rock on the ground beneath me. The nights were cold, and no fires were allowed on the campgrounds. After the first day of the festival, I was cold, achy, and so very hungry. Wrapped in a blanket and sitting on the ground next to my campmates, I was lamenting just how poorly I had planned. All of my suffering was captured in a single, desperate wish:
“I just want a bowl of warm soup right now.”
My campmate, Preston, huddled in his own much warmer thermal blanket and comfortably situated in the plush camping chair he’d thought to bring, perked up.
“Oh yeah, soup does sound good. I wonder if I should make some.”
My eyes lit up like a castaway who sees the faint outline of a rescue ship on the horizon. I almost didn’t believe it was possible that someone could just make soup out here.
“You can do that?” I asked, genuinely incredulous.
“Yeah,” he said. “I just have to go unpack my cooking gear... and it’s kind of a pain.”
My girlfriend and I looked at each other. And then we did what we do best.
We deployed our shared superpower: Infectious Enthusiasm.
“Well, I don’t know how to help, but we are 100% on Team Soup if we can do anything to make it happen!” I said. “A delicious bowl of warm soup sounds pretty amazing right now!” my girlfriend chimed in.
Preston’s energy shifted. “Yeah, soup would be good. Okay, let me see what I can do.”
Now mind you, I was completely incompetent as a camper. As I watched Preston set up a camp stove, connect propane, unravel a crazy-looking metal contraption that somehow turned into a soup pot, and pull ingredients from his cooler, all I could do was cheer him on.
My girlfriend and I began chanting “Team Soup!” and praised every step of the way as cold nothingness transformed into warm broth.
Preston loved it. He got into the process even though there were countless steps, leaving the warmth of his blankets, digging through his camper for everything he needed. But the enthusiasm and the promise of soup kept him going.
I’ll never forget taking that first sip of warm soup. It revitalized us in a way that is hard to describe. Preston, along with some other very kind and compassionate people, kept us alive through that event and turned what could have been a miserable weekend into a great one.
Why This Matters
That experience crystallized something important for me: the power of being a cheerleader for a cause you care about.
I couldn’t cook, I didn’t have the gear, I had no practical skills to contribute, but what I could do was generate genuine enthusiasm, and that enthusiasm was the catalyst that turned an idea into reality.
As a CEO, designer, and teacher, this is often the most important part of my job. In my company, I need to rally enthusiasm and support around new projects, connecting people’s hard work to an inspiring vision. As a game designer, I need publishers, distributors, and most importantly players to get excited about my newest creation. When teaching students in my Think Like a Game Designer course, I need to help them get excited enough about their own potential that they push through the hard work of iterative design.
The skill is always the same: generate enough enthusiasm to turn ideas into action.
5 Tips to Generate Enthusiasm in Others
Get genuinely excited yourself. If you don’t believe in it, you’ll have a hard time making others believe. Enthusiasm is contagious, but only if it’s real. People can sense when you’re going through the motions versus when you’re truly fired up.
Acknowledge the effort you’re asking for. Don’t underestimate the ask. Preston had to leave his warm blankets, unpack gear, and spend significant time and energy making that soup. Recognizing and showing gratitude for the work or risk others take is essential. Make sure people feel appreciated.
Paint a vivid picture of the future. Help your audience visualize the end experience. When people can see and feel what the outcome looks like, whether it’s a warm bowl of soup, a shipped product, or a personal breakthrough, they can hold onto that vision when the work gets hard.
Let others shape the vision. Don’t get so attached to your initial idea that you shut out other perspectives. Bring in other people’s ideas to improve your vision and increase its appeal. Everyone loves ideas more if they feel a sense of ownership, making true collaboration a multiplier for your enthusiasm.
Always consider the other person’s interests. You generate the strongest enthusiasm when you come from a place of genuine service. Don’t just rally people for your benefit. Care about what’s in it for them too, because when everyone wins, its easier for all of you to become enthusasitic about the next idea.
Your Turn
After the camping adventure, I started using the phrase “Team Soup” whenever I want to bring something to life that requires significant effort from others. It’s a reminder that sometimes the most valuable contribution you can make isn’t technical skill or resources. It’s the energy and belief that gets people moving.
I encourage you to find your own Team Soup moments.
Show gratitude for hard work.
Remind people that you believe in them.
Create a shared picture of a future everyone can be passionate about.
Rally behind the people around you.
Praise all progress and effort, not just a final result.
Cheer loudly for the work that matters.
You can’t underestimate the power of enthusiastic support.
Team Soup!
BIG NEWS NEXT WEEK
Big news about Think Like a Game Designer is coming next week, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a game designer, you’ll want to be ready when my next email hits your inbox.
Love the anecdote here. As a leader, this is great advice. As a designer, I'd add how important it is from the other side (the soup maker's pov). I can't tell you how many times I've set a project aside until someone genuinely asked me how it was going because they wanted to see more. That enthusiasm bumps it to priority number one, and reinvigorates me like nothing else. That's the benefit of going to events, too!
If you can't contribute anything else, at least contribute applause and appreciation. 👏