Blog

Have you ever been inspired to work harder or faster by someone?  Most of us have at one point or another in our lives. Maybe it was coach, or a teammate – a teacher, or a mentor – a friend, or a parent.  Or perhaps it was a certain boss who had been appointed as ‘leader’ of your business group or team – or someone who might have simply assumed leadership when things weren’t going well.     What separates these leaders that inspire us from those who lead in name only?   As a leadership student, practitioner, trainer and evaluator for over 25 years, there seems to be at least three things that almost always standout.  First, inspiring leaders have a clear vision for what they want to accomplish.  It is usually much loftier than just the business objectives and incorporates both rational and emotive goals.  It is often rooted in the higher purpose that the business hopes to achieve – e.g. eradicating a disease, raising a standard of living, becoming recognized as ‘best in class’ in your particular industry.   Second, inspiring leaders clearly and consistently communicate both their vision and specific expectations to all their constituents.   This allows everyone to understand not just where they are being led, but what their contributing role is and how they are to be measured.  The better they understand these, the more focused they are on delivering the results – better, faster, with greater ingenuity and higher quality than just what’s ‘required’.   Third, inspired leaders are generous – with their time, with their praise, and with their willingness to help those who are trying.  That doesn’t mean they are soft – they are usually very direct and very clear when the team’s falls short. But rather than seeking to blame, they seek to understand and avoid making the same mistakes again. In this respect, inspired leaders are extraordinarily efficient – they cut through the drama and focus on the data — with the goal of developing stronger people and delivering better results, faster and cheaper.  The good news for you is that inspired leadership is a learned trait, not a genetic one.  There are specific tools and techniques that can be coached, that can be built into young (as well as more ‘experienced’) managers that are asked to ‘lead’ for the first time.  The benefit of not just appointing leaders, but actually developing and building inspirational leaders is that you will start to see consistent improvement in the motivation of your employees, the sense of pride they exhibit in delivering results that exceed expectations, and the efficiency with which the organization grows.