What would you do with a million dollars? This was the opening question posed at last night’s Leadership Summit hosted by the University of Wisconsin’s Student Leadership Program.

Scenes from the motion picture “Office Space” shed light on last evening’s focus of motivation and commitment. When asked what he would do with a million dollars, the movie’s protagonist, Peter, replies, “Nothing. I would do absolutely nothing.”

Leadership staff said this is an example of the lack of motivation that most people run into numerous times during their life. The movie inspired several discussion topics, including, “Share some factors that have contributed to your motivation” and “What are some ways you have demonstrated your commitment?”

Participants were asked to give personal insights into their experiences with self-motivation and commitment. Afterward, the entire group analyzed reasons for those occurrences and planned strategies for preventing them in the future.

One of the strategies that came up most frequently was that it is crucial to take the initiative to both start and finish a project. Most students claimed that it was the initial step in beginning something that was the most difficult.

A few suggestions for beginning and sustaining motivation were to take breaks and do something enjoyable.

“The main concern with this is that you then need to have the discipline to go back to the earlier task,” Tara Cordes, one of the summit’s leaders, said.

Another key for motivation the group agreed on was caring about the task or having a stake in the outcome. “Office Space” provided an example of this: Peter’s interview with two company organizers, who wondered whether stock options could enhance worker production — to which Peter responded, “Yeah, that might be a good idea.”

Throughout the two-hour leadership summit, many strategies were suggested to enable the participants to conquer fears or problems in motivation and commitment.

One main problem brought to the facilitators’ attention was that many times students become overwhelmed by their participation in activities, leading to low motivation. One way to recharge, according to the leaders, is the ability to break obligations down and accomplish them little by little.

The last half-hour of the summit was set aside to help individuals with their problems in current leadership roles. The rest of the participants gave advice and insight.

When asked what he got out of the experience, UW student Robbie Reck said he didn’t know what he was getting into when he decided to attend the event, but that it turned out to be a valuable experience.

“I learned how to motivate myself and others,” Reck said. “Ed (Kim, the summit’s other leader) and Tara did well with incorporating individuals’ specific incidents and problems. It was definitely worth my time.”

The summits are held on a monthly basis in the Red Gym and usually last about an hour to an hour and a half. The program is open to any interested UW student, and a wide range of people attend.

Many SLP participants represent various campus organizations, and many others simply want to become more involved. While taking into consideration the different backgrounds of participants, program directors strive to improve each individual’s leadership skills.

The UW Student Leadership Program’s mission is to develop effective and essential leadership skills in students and student groups through comprehensive leadership education and diverse experiences.