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Have you ever had the privilege of working for someone, who makes you feel inspired to the point where you actually look forward to going to work?
I read this story about someone who experienced an extraordinary moment at their job during a very challenging project with his team. The CEO of the company, sensing something was wrong, gave a compelling and motivational speech that left each person believing that they can achieve anything.
Half an hour later, everyone left the room looking at each other and saying: “Yes, let’s do that right now, let’s go for it.”
The late great Dr. Myles Munroe said that great leaders could walk into a room of depressed people and transform those people into warriors. Note the word Transform. My experience has shown me that inspirational leaders are a rare breed because businesses are run by what we define as managers: people with a list of objectives to accomplish, really skilled at identifying, giving and following orders, making pressure to ensure that these are done.
In many cases, businesses can be driven by managers, but what separates the great companies from the good ones are inspirational leaders. According to Fernando Vilas, these leaders are capable of inspiring others to follow them, even in very adverse situations.
Here are the four typical traits of an Inspirational leader:
Individual Influence
To be truly effective, leaders must master the ability to influence others. “Without the capacity to influence others, your ability to make what you envision a reality remains elusive because, after all, no one can do it alone,” according to George Hallenbeck. Inspirational leaders are capable of transmitting a message to each person in their team by spreading enthusiasm and integrity while acting as a role model. They have one or more characteristics which make them really authentic, without caring about what others think about them. They are really good at setting real-life examples people can identify with.
This behavior can be summarized with the word “Identify.”
Inspiration
Richard Branson identifies the ability to inspire as the single most critical leadership skill. The ability to infuse energy, passion, commitment, and connection to an organization’s mission and direction is essential in any growing company. When we are filled with inspiration, we often don’t need external motivation to move forward. The feeling of purpose and meaning is enough to propel us. Inspirational leaders are capable of leveraging the meaning of goals and tasks. Their emotions are magnetic, touching the most buried feeling inside of their people. They give purpose to the organization, explaining the personal reasons to achieve them as opposed to following an order from a manager. They are capable of communicating an attractive vision, a dream, and really important: they appreciate the job done by their people.
This is the second, I: “Inspire.”
Intellectual Stimulation
Inspirational leadership arouses their followers’ thoughts and imagination, as well as stimulating their ability to identify and solve problems creatively. In other words: they challenge their people to think differently. They question old ways of doing things, imparting new perspectives. They are auto critics, making their followers understand that they are all at the same level and transmitting that success to every individual. They adequate complexity and challenge their people to be the best by telling their people that only the best can achieve the goals, and this accomplishment depends solely on them. But most importantly, they challenge the status quo.
This behavior is summarized with: “Intellectual.”
Individual Treatment
Contrary to what managers usually do, inspirational leaders develop each employee individually, with full credibility. They understand their employees’ needs, and they genuinely care about them. They earn respect from their peers by being a patient listener and stays focused on what their team is saying. They give their people the importance that they deserve by soliciting feedback and engaging their people in topics of a personal nature as well. They enter into real valuable dialogues that build a healthy relationship between leader and follower.
This is the fourth and last I: “Individual”.
Inspirational leaders are change agents. They exhibit characteristics that reflect a vision for the future, demonstrate an ability to influence others, provide encouragement to others, and express high-performance expectations.
The end - result of inspirational leadership is that people are motivated to succeed, and the institution is strengthened and transformed. They inspire people to believe that the impossible is possible, and in the process, bring forth the very best in themselves and continues to inspire the next generation of leaders to always strive for greatness.
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Perfect read for both new and experienced leaders!Even the most experienced leaders need a source of inspiration from time to time! ALISON BROWNE
The Inspirational Leader: Inspire Your Team to Believe The Impossible offers some great insights into the best approaches to leadership. Was well written and a very easy read.....N.E
Amazing Read! What an excellent read! I highly recommend!!! Richard Dye
This book was excellent... hit the points that are needed for successful organization and change management for the millennials. Marsha Barrow Smith
I've read this book and it's amazing!! Donald Bibbero
Another great leadership advice from Gifford Thomas Strongly recommend to read his book:) Shani Zehra Naqvi
For your copy of The Inspirational Leader, Inspire Your Team To Believe In The Impossible, click RIGHT HERE.