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n the previous post, we clearly emphasized the need for balance between our spirituality and business. What links those two is nothing else but productivity. In fact, we have seen in another post that business is firmly rooted in spirituality. I believe that there are two major forces that propel mighty luminaries in business: Anger and Compassion.

Let me explain.

When Henry Ford built the first automobile, chances are that he was not primarily driven by making a killing in money. He was driven by this passion to add value to humanity by solving a transportation problem. That is compassion right there. Some call it business but at the root of it all, there is compassion.

When Steve Jobs invented the iPod, iPhone, iPad and iTunes, he was driven by this crazy desire to unify multimedia and give the customer an out of the world unique experience. He was not driven by the lust and hunger for money. He was driven by love for excellence and value addition.

The Common Ground

So as you can see, we ought to use our spirituality to help resolve problems and also to help others. We ought to use our spirituality to build value in life and design legacies. Like I have kept insisting, [ictt-tweet-inline]our spirituality must be the foundation upon which our productivity is built. [/ictt-tweet-inline] If we just focus on being spiritual and think that our spirituality will give birth to our success, we are highly mistaken. To our spirituality, we must add work ethic and productivity.

The Rest of The Pillars of Productivity

Given that productivity is an important element of success, we have already looked at the first 10 pillars in the previous post. Today, we conclude by looking at the remaining 10 pillars of productivity. Most of these pillars are internally driven.

11. Attitude

They say that your attitude determines your altitude. I have never seen a productive person with a pathetic attitude towards what they were producing. It goes without saying. The interesting thing about attitude is that you cannot earn a degree from school of attitude. It is a function of your internal values, resolve and character. In fact, someone with an excellent mind but with a pathetic attitude will always come second when placed before someone of excellent attitude but less competence.

12. Intentionality

Work ethic is not something that comes arbitrarily. Neither does excellence, finesse and timeliness. These are all connected to productivity. One must decide, intend, consider and commit to productivity before they can be productive. It is one of the greatest pillars of productivity.

13.Urgency

I have talked in length about urgency throughout this blog. Urgency to me means that you have a time frame through which to execute a task, project or your purpose. Urgency gets things done both effectively and efficiently.

14.Passion

Passion is a force like no other. Great achievers always were infused with unrivaled passion for what they were doing. The worst nightmare for people in life is when they have to depend on what they hate to do in order to succeed. You can be sure that productivity will suffer greatly in such circumstances. I have been there before. Going to work at a place I hated for years on end. It was the worst experience of my life. Needless to say, I was demoted for my poor work ethic.

15. Discipline

I think the greatest fight we have daily is the fight for discipline. Without it, timeliness, tidiness, urgency and other aspects of productivity will be greatly affected. Discipline is the highest driver of productivity for it helps you to focus on productivity regardless of how you are feeling. Not to say that feelings are not needed, but they cannot be relied on 100%.

16. Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is the contagious fire that does not just fire good feeling chemicals in our body, but it also fires positive vibes to people that we are collaborating with. The worst thing that can happen to a team working on a project is when they lack the fire, zeal and fervor to make things happen and get things done. That’s why it is important to make sure that this aspect of our lives is intact.

17. Creativity

Even while swamped with myriads of options in technology, one still needs to be so nimble and creative in order to fire productivity. People have found easier, better, less stressful and less time consuming ways to be productive. Remember, we are not talking about shortcuts here. We all ought to be on the lookout for creativity daily in our endeavors for productivity.

18. Smart Working

This my friend, is in no way a substitute of working hard. People normally say, “Work smart, not hard”. That as I have said elsewhere, it is bad advise. Working smart is about being very productive with the resources that you have. It is about maximizing your capacity for higher output.

19. Team Work

“Two are better than one for they have a higher return.” Therefore, our goal in fostering productivity is to build human resource systems that work seamlessly. Team work however starts with individuals, not leadership. Leadership though cannot be ignored in fostering team work. Great team work means higher productivity in all aspects of it.

20. Persistence

Calvin Coolidge said, “Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent” Someone else said that “By perseverance, the snail reached the ark.” The thing about productivity is that you will face battles, heartaches, and very many uncomfortable unknowns. Life is the only school you can go to and get a degree in persistence. No one teaches this better. Productivity will need you to hang on until the task is done.