Leadership: inspire rather than require

Have you ever achieved more at work than you thought you could----delighted in giving it your all---thrilled because you exceeded your own expectations?

How often have you had that feeling of being inspired at work?

If you are like many of us, those times are memorable in their infrequency.

It seems that we treat inspiration at work as a rare commodity, and, while we might wish for it, few of us realistically expect to be inspired.

Yet today there is compelling research telling us that leaders who inspire others to be their best, and to achieve what they thought they could not, have a powerful impact on an organization's success.

In one body of research the competency "inspires and motivates to high performance" was identified as "the most powerful predictor of someone's being seen as an extraordinary leader."

If that is so, why do we see so many uninspiring leaders? Why do some studies tell us that 51% of employees think about quitting, and that 54% of workers are "not engaged" while 16% are actively disengaged?

We can identify several beliefs or "myths" that prevent inspirational leadership from being more widespread, and challenging these beliefs can move us toward an acceptance of inspiration as an important key to leadership excellence.

Belief #1: Only a few highly gifted leaders have the ability to inspire others.

Actually the ability to inspire others is a behavior any leader can learn. Michael Abrashoff in his book It's Your Ship speaks humbly about being commander of the Benfold, once considered the worst ship in the Navy.

"In a nutshell, hard experience has taught me that real leadership is about understanding yourself first, then using that to create a superb organization." Although, through his inspiration of a previously disengaged crew, he turned around the Benfold (which became recognized as a model ship), Captain Abrashoff was not a uniquely gifted leader. He learned to inspire others through commitment and experience.

Belief #2: It's the job of the leader to execute on goals, not to inspire. (Require not inspire)

Many leaders find it difficult to define their role clearly--- and to measure their success--- if their own hands are not on the tiller. In contrast, Peter Drucker tells us that a leader's job is to "get things done through others". That means a leader needs to take his or her hand off the tiller and lead and inspire others to execute.

Belief #3: There is no time to be inspirational.

American business has been described as being comfortable with a "fire, aim, ready" approach to getting things done in organizations. In spite of generations of training programs espousing otherwise, leaders are often pressured by the organization to be seen as someone actively taking control. There is often no time allotted, nor rewards given, for creating and communicating an inspiring vision, for encouraging input, or for developing those who report to them. These high ROI activities that inspire team members are not always valued as the real work of a leader.

It's time to challenge these myths and to recognize that Inspiration is a key component of leadership, one that can be learned and one that should be measured when performance review time comes around.

Keep the conversation alive. To learn more about leadership and inspiration, check out the book The Inspiring Leader by Dr Jack Zenger.