Are You An Inspiring Leader?
Photo by Michelle Cassar on Unsplash
Are You An Inspiring Leader?
Ross was the General Manager of a manufacturing company and had approximately 700 people at the site. This business had grown from zero to this size in five years – phenomenal growth! A huge amount of focus had been put into establishing the company, getting the right employees on board, ensuring the right plant and equipment was in place, along with getting everyone up to speed as quickly as possible so they could supply the demands of their customers.
Ross and his senior team had done an amazing job to date. Ross could now see, with the size of the business things needed to be done slightly differently. They were now looking at introducing another level of leadership. The historically ‘flat’ structure would need to change due to the size, complexity and continued growth plans of the business.
Ross had a new vision he had been thinking about for a short while. Now was the time to put some of his thinking on the table with his senior leadership team. He wanted to start the journey of getting them to buy-in, expand on his thinking and create the next version of the organisation, so they could continue to enjoy the type of success they had been having. It was time for change…
Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash
Communicating your vision
As leaders, we are always wanting to ensure we are communicating our vision and getting our teams excited about where we are heading. The Oxford dictionary states that to inspire others means, to fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. We want to excite our people and have them buy-in to where we are going and what we are trying to achieve. John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
Photo by Tabea Damm on unsplash
How to inspire
There are a few factors we need to consider when we want to inspire others. The first is for us as leaders to have a good understanding how we are playing our ‘inner game’. How are we when we are at our best. How are we when we are under pressure or stressed. What motives, values and preferences do we have that drive our behaviours. It is important for us to understand this internal information about our leadership, as this is what builds other people’s perceptions of how we are and ultimately is what can either help or hinder our reputation.
We should also consider the process we want to use when we want to inspire others. First, we need to ensure that we are inspired! The energy we bring to the conversation and the ability for our people to see us as ‘all in’ is an absolute must!
If you want to have high stake conversations that create a compelling vision and make it easy for your people to buy-in and come on the journey with you, here are some useful tips for you to consider:
Paint a compelling picture of the future – really spend time thinking about this and communicate what they will see, hear and feel in this new place. Remember, you have to be sold first!
Use the present tense – when we talk about the future, we want to use language as if we have already arrived as this helps people to imagine the future now.
Use ‘WE’ not ‘I’ – if you want your team to have ownership and buy-in to this vision as much as you do, they also have to own it. Use collective language and let them know this vision is as much theirs as it is yours.
Be inclusive – make sure you include your team in this process, you will need to take them on the journey. You have possibly been thinking about this vision longer than they have so give them time to ‘catch up’ and include them as much as possible.
Let others contribute – allow your team and others who interact with you, be part of the creation of this vision. It was Aristotle who said “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” and you will get more commitment and buy-in, not to mention a better outcome by having others contribute to the vision.
Ross was a leader who spent time understanding how he was playing his inner game and when he took his ideas to his senior team, they all contributed and came up with something they were excited to take out to all of their employees, suppliers and customers. They all knew that to inspire, it takes authenticity, commitment and honesty. They also knew that this was a journey, it was going to take time and it required consistent action. It was a marathon, not a sprint.
So, what opportunities do you have to inspire either one of your team, the whole team or even the entire organisation? Inspiration should be conveyed with intention and when executed well, it can yield amazing results.
If you are a forward thinking, curious leader that would like to explore what understanding your ‘inner game’ to achieve better results would look like, let’s connect for a no obligation chat, my contact details are below.
Lead with impact,