Being an inspirational leader is important in unlocking the potential of your team in achieving shared goals. Within the workplace, inspirational leaders motivate employees to work harder and become more efficient at their jobs. In addition, workers are happier and they receive enjoyment and intrinsic satisfaction with their increased output.
Because of these benefits, it’s easy to see why leaders would want to become inspirational. However, it isn’t always easy to become an inspirational leader, and many people try and fail to successfully inspire their workers.
Thankfully, the ability to become an inspirational leader is something that can be developed. Here are 7 things you can do to becoming a more inspirational leader:
#1. Engage Your Team
Successfully engaging and connecting with your team is critical in developing your inspirational skills. By engaging your followers, you will ensure that you are constantly communicating with them in order to hear their concerns and gain feedback. Your regular engagement will establish a deeper connection which leads to a better understanding of their needs and feelings.
#2. Be a Role Model
To inspire people, you must display the same behaviour and work ethic you would like to see. It is almost impossible to inspire others from a distance, or without you openly displaying the same behaviours you would like others to emulate. By being a leader who is on the front lines and engaging in necessary but undesirable tasks, followers will in turn be inspired to do the same, and will raise their output in order to match yours.
#3. Display Energy
People are naturally inspired by others who display a high level of energy and enthusiasm. They will often be driven to perform by being inspired by the energy and enthusiasm around them. Research has shown that leaders displaying high levels of energy can be directly responsible for increasing sales and productivity. By openly displaying high energy levels, your employees or followers will be inspired to get fired up and work harder.
#4. Develop a Vision
To be an inspirational leader, you need to have a vision about where you would like to take your team or organisation. The vision will focus on the future. The vision should present an image with words of the desired future. By focusing on the future and developing a vision, you have a goal which everyone can aspire to achieve.
#5. Be Enthusiastic About What You Do
You must be passionate and enthusiastic about your leadership position in order to inspire that passion in others. If you are not passionate, it will be difficult to inspire others. Team members will sense that you are not authentic and may become distrustful of or demotivated by your efforts to get them to be more productive and efficient. However, by committing yourself to your role as a leader and by believing in and loving what you do, then you will find that others will be naturally inspired by you.
#6. Use Positive Reinforcement
By paying attention to what your workers or followers are doing right and rewarding them for it, then you will be able to inspire them to be more productive. While the reward doesn’t have to be material, providing positive reinforcement for a job well done will encourage your workers to push even harder in doing their tasks well.
#7. Turn Your Work into a Story
By turning what you need your followers to do into a compelling story, you will be able to give your worker’s efforts a bigger meaning. By turning your work into a compelling story, your workers can see themselves as important within the whole process of the work or business. In addition, they will also get a sense of meaning and purpose in their jobs as they see how they can make a material difference through a powerful story.
Being an inspirational leader isn’t always easy. However, truly inspirational leaders are often fulfilled by the fact that they have inspired other to contribute more to their cause. By being an inspiring leader, you are able to influence others to achieve your common goals quickly and effectively. This leads to higher levels of professional development for both yourself and those you are leading.