By Roger A. Gerard PhD and Cindy Zauner-Warner
“Your life is your message.” - Gandhi
Mark, a confident, bright and capable leader with very high expectations arrived for a coaching session, clearly frustrated. Bright and capable, he had climbed the corporate ladder quickly, and kept tight control of his team. His team’s performance was high, but morale and creativity were low, and recent surveys indicated that they were trending lower. Mark knew his team had more potential and was determined to achieve it.
“Why aren’t my people more engaged? I tell them what needs to be done, and it doesn’t happen! Why do I have to do everything? How do I get my staff to take more initiative, and care about the work? It seems like I have to initiate everything…they seem so uninspired!” --How do I build accountability? People just do tasks and we are getting results, but they are not taking the initiative to go the extra mile to get better results! They are capable of more!”
Mark was describing an “uninspired” team, and blamed them for being uninspired! Have you ever had a leader like Mark, or struggled to inspire your team? If so, pay attention! We’ve got news for you. It is tempting to believe that some people are basically uninspired. Perhaps there is another view: perhaps the reason people behave like this is because they are not being inspired.
Think about the memorable, outstanding leaders that you have known in your life. Perhaps it is the boss that everyone wanted to work for. Or an entrepreneur that built a flourishing business. Or a public leader who brought about beneficial social change. It is almost certain that a key trait of such leaders is how they inspired outstanding performance in you and others. Such leaders encourage us to have great dreams, and provide a sense of possibility about how much better we can be than we are.
As your authors, we are aware of and know the research on engagement and motivation. We are also relying deeply on the experiences that we have encountered in our “on the ground” work with real leaders, leading real people. Our thoughts here are the result of decades of working with leaders at all levels with the challenges and difficulties of managing for outstanding results.
So, what is inspiration?
To inspire means to excite, encourage, or breathe life into what we are doing. The word “inspire” comes from the Latin word that means to inflame or to blow in to. Inspiration = “in spirit”, or “on purpose”. When you inspire something in someone, it is as if you are blowing air over a low flame to make it grow, creating what some have called “fire in the belly”. This spark of spirit, passion, and purpose is within all of us, part of who we are, and needs that “breath” of air to flourish.
When leaders fan that flame and help people align who they are with what they do, focused on significant purpose, we harness the most powerful energy on earth! Inspiration is at the heart of motivation. Countless surveys have been conducted over the past three decades showing that first line leadership is the single most critical factor in creating an engaged, productive workforce. Leaders play a particularly critical role in ensuring an inspired workforce.
People will do whatever it takes to accomplish what inspires them. When acting on inspiration, we are at our best emotionally, our actions and behaviors aligned with our intentions. When we live and work with our authentic selves, engaging not only head and body, but also heart and spirit, to accomplish something that we deem important, we experience far more powerful energy and incredible results.
So, is there a formula to follow to be an inspiring leader?
…For getting people to bring their head, heart and spirit, along with a great deal of energy and goodwill to their work? Maybe, but inspiration is not magic, nor is there a one-size-fits-all method for inspiring everyone. However, there are key principles great leaders practice to inspire others, and steps you can take to be a more inspiring leader.
Seven Principles of Inspirational Leadership
1. Share the vision and connect to the purpose! Clearly communicate why what you are doing is important, and how it will make a difference that matters. Help people align who they are with their work. Make sure everyone knows the value that they are adding to the team. Then provide what is needed for their success, and explain what you expect from others in attitudes, behaviors and results. This is the “head” and “heart” work. Be ambitious! People like large goals, a higher sense of purpose, great intentions, and being part of something big.
2. Lead by example! Is your head, heart, and spirit in what you do at work? Authenticity matters! Your energy is contagious. Stay positive and show energy, passion and real commitment to the work. This is more than just talking about your intentions. Make sure your own energy, attitude, and actions are reflecting what you expect of others.
3. Have a Heart! People are most loyal to those that they trust will have their best interests in mind. People work for their own reasons. Show that you care about people and see to it that the work meets their needs and goals. Listen to them, respect them, and inquire about their changing needs and wants as things progress. Take the time to get to know people both inside and outside of work.
4. Make it clear that “we are in this together!” Focus on building relationships with people, and among them. Foster a climate in which they can help one another, and in fact, are expected to do so. Ask for input and feedback, listen carefully, and incorporate it into the work being done whenever possible. Get different perspectives before important decisions are made, and work to make sure those differences are respected.
5. When things go wrong, have their backs. Things will go wrong. And in our culture, it is always tempting to “blame and shame”. This will not only not work, it will destroy relationships and morale for years to come. Rather, this is about learning, growing, using experience to develop mastery. Give people feedback in a way that builds people up and instills confidence! And do so in a calm, relaxed and composed way.
6. Have patience! This is a long-term process, not a one-off. Relationships (and trust) take time to build.
7. Ignite potential! Foster individual expertise and fuel their passions. Make sure that people have the opportunity to grow and learn new things. Pay attention to their passions and give them assignments that fuel their willingness to do things that they’ve never done before, or to investigate opportunities that have not been explored. Make sure they know you have faith in them and are excited about their accomplishments and growth.
These principles can be challenging, but they are what great leaders do to inspire their teams. Leading is more about keeping people connected to purpose, and less about solving problems or overcoming obstacles; less about control, and more about inspiring others to their own greatness.
Questions to consider as you inspire others
Here are a few questions to ponder as you consider changing how you lead. We recommend that you use these questions in quiet meditation, or for journaling purposes, so that you might begin the process of changing yourself. Write down the actions that you can take in response to the questions, actions that will change you, and actions that will change how you interact with others. Be specific, be tangible, and then – GO DO IT! Nothing inspires more than a leader taking action!
Questions for you about you:
· What ignites your head, heart and spirit? What inspires you?
· What brings you energy and joy, and a sense of what really matters?
· What exactly is your vision? What is your purpose?
· What are your “non-negotiables”, the things you are willing to work hard for, even fight for?
· Are you putting priority on doing those things that you love, and that bring you energy?
· Does your work reflect your intentions and purpose?
· What steps would you take to do more of what you love?
Questions for you about your leadership
· Are you modeling the values and intentions that you want others to follow?
· Are you surrounding yourself with people who share your intentions and goals?
· Are you dealing with those who do not, either by helping them understand, or by helping them be successful somewhere else?
· Are you providing the necessary instruction and resources to ensure that people are successful?
· Are you inquiring about their needs and wants, and incorporating strategies to help them be successful in meeting those needs and wants?
· Are you treating people with respect, and making sure that people respect one another?
· Do you celebrate the success of others?
· Do you have their backs when things go wrong?
· Do those who you are leading feel that you have their best interests in mind?
· Are you growing people to be successful beyond their wildest dreams?
Through coaching, Mark learned to explore his own motivations and passions, and shared that with his staff. He also took the time to inquire about his staff’s motivations, what they wanted from the work. He practiced “slowing down to speed up” by taking the time to share his vision, creating shared purpose with his staff by listening to and meeting their needs, building teamwork, providing individual coaching and training, celebrating successes and supporting his team when they made mistakes. As a result of all of this, his team began to show the highest engagement and performance in his organization!
Mark changed his style to inspire his team and it served him well. Oh, by the way: Mark was also a happier, more authentic human being!
Once head, heart and spirit are aligned, we can accomplish purposes larger than ourselves, perhaps more than we ever thought possible. Over time, with the resolve to take the steps we’ve articulated here, you will foster an inspired workforce able to solve problems, take initiative, and do the work necessary, not because “it is the job”, but because they truly want to do the work, and grow their own success!
