A discussion around what skills make an inspiring leader can attract a diverse range of opinions. For the record I think the essential qualities of an inspiring leader include humility, integrity, confidence, a high care factor, clarity of vision and effective communication.
Of course these are my opinions only and another commentator with a different perspective may suggest that a different leadership skill-set is required to be inspirational.
With this in mind, the insights of Susan Heathfield, a Michigan based management development consultant, on what makes an inspiring leader really resonated for me.
Her choices are reprinted below.
What Makes A Leader Inspirational?
The ability to inspire people to reach great heights of performance and success is a skill that leaders need. Too few leaders are capable of exhibiting the qualities that employees most seek in the person they think of as their leader. It is these qualities that employees choose to follow.
Passion, purpose, listening and meaning help make a leader inspirational. Exhibiting these qualities and characteristics is a must if you wish to inspire the best work from your employees. An inspirational leader does not just tell employees that he or she is deeply committed to their customer’s experience.
The leader must demonstrate this commitment and passion in every meeting, presentation, and in how the leader handles and tells employees to handle customer woes. The leader’s behaviour must inspire employees to act in the same way.
Communication, integrity, inclusion, and sensitivity to the needs of the employees round out the qualities and characteristics of an inspirational leader. No one is inspired by a leader whom people think does not care about them.
The ability to communicate that passion, purpose, and meaning to others helps establish the inspirational culture of your organization. The following points will tell you how to enable inspiration and motivation in the people that you lead.
How Leaders Instil Inspiration in the People They Lead
1. Passion
The inspirational leader feels passionate about the vision and mission of the organization. They are also able to share that passion in a way that enables others to feel passionate, too. Shared passion makes organizations soar in the accomplishment of their mission and vision.
2. Clarity of Purpose
The nature of the vision and mission is critical for enabling others to feel as if their work has a 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 organization exists.
3. Listening
The inspirational leader listens to the people in her organization. Talking to people about your passion is not enough. To share meaning—a favourite and meaningful definition of communication—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.
4. Inclusion
To experience inspiration, people also need to feel included. Inclusion goes beyond the realm of listening and providing feedback. For real inclusion, people need to feel intimately connected to the actions and process that are leading to the accomplishment of the goals or the final decision.
A client company cancelled an annual employee event because of customer orders for their product. Many people did not like the decision, but the company had involved the whole management group, the Activity Committee members and many other employees in the discussion about whether to cancel or re-schedule the event.
The inclusion led to a compromise that, while not perfect, still enabled a celebration and a positive morale boost yet allowed the company to meet customer needs. Since customer needs are paramount, and the employees agreed, the company’s decision, made with employee input, also gave them nothing to push back against.
5. Integrity
Important to inspiration is the integrity of the person leading. Yes, vision and passion are important, but your employees must trust you if you want them to feel inspired. They must believe in your integrity and see it played out in decisions and customer and employee treatment.
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, principled life and who does their best. Trust this. Your actions play out on the stage of your organization. And, your staff does boo and cheer and vote with their feet and their actions. Your human behaviour that has congruity with your speaking and acting is always centre stage.
6. Acting Within Your Capability
Finally, an inspirational leader gives people what they want within his capabilities. (You can’t provide a pay rise without company profitability, as an example, but you absolutely share the rewards if the organization is doing well.)
7. Praise
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. Speaking directly to a contributing employee about the value that their work provides for the organization is a key source of inspiration for the recipient.
The actions that you take every day at work are powerful beyond your wildest dreams. Make sure that your actions are inspirational and call out the best from your employees.
View full article by Susan Heathfield