Inspirational Leadership

To inspire, according to the dictionary, means to affect or guide by divine influence; to stimulate to action, to draw forth, elicit, or arouse; to bring about. In its archaic form, inspire meant, “To breathe life into.”

The truly inspirational leader does seem to breathe life into a project, a team and an organisation. The same work and the same people who seemed dull and routine yesterday take on a different aura when we are inspired to see them as belonging to a larger and more important whole of which we are also a part. An old story goes: There were once two bricklayers, one who went about his work with competence but without enthusiasm, looking forward only to completing his work and going home to supper. The other bricklayer worked with delight and took pleasure in his achievement at the end of each day. When each was asked what he was doing, the first man said, “I am laying bricks.” The second man said, “I am building a cathedral.”
Helping another person to connect his or her daily efforts to the strategic goals and vision of the organisation is the challenge of the inspirational leader.

We often use the metaphor that a person with an enlarged personality “sucks all the air out of the room". An inspirational leader, by contrast, seems to bring fresh air into a room, enlarging the hopes, intentions, and expectations of all those whom he or she touches.

Click here to view an explanation of leadership: the butterfly story.

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Leaders Instil Inspiration

The inspirational leader feels passionate about the vision and mission of the organisation. He is also able to share his passion in a way that enables others to feel passionate, too. The nature of the vision and mission is critical for enabling others to feel as if their work has purpose and meaning beyond the tasks they perform each day. Sometimes leaders have to help their staff connect the dots by explaining this big picture to all. Communicating the big picture regularly will help reinforce the reason your organisation exists.

The inspirational leader listens to the people of the organisation. Talking to people about your passion is not enough. To share meaning you must allow the ideas and thoughts of your staff to help form the vision and mission, or minimally, the goals and action plan. No one is ever one hundred percent supportive of a direction they had no part in formulating. People need to see their ideas incorporated or understand why they were not.

To experience inspiration, people also need to feel included. Inclusion goes beyond listening and feedback; for real inclusion, people need to feel intimately connected to the actions and processes that are leading to the accomplishment of the goals of the decision.

Important to inspiration is the integrity of the person leading. Yes, vision and passion are important, but employees must trust you to feel inspired. They must believe in you. Your ‘person’ is as important as the direction you provide. Employees look up to a person who tells the truth, tries to do the right things, lives a good life and does their best. Trust me. Your actions play out on the stage of your organisation. And your staff does the boo and cheer and vote with their feet and their actions.

Finally, an inspirational leader gives people what they want within his capabilities. (You can’t provide a raise in pay without company profitability, as an example, but you absolutely must share the rewards if the organisation is doing well.) The inspirational leader also understands that, while money is a motivator, so are praise, recognition, rewards, a thank you and noticing an individual’s contribution to a successful endeavour.