Leadership can be complex, but there are several ways to inspire your team. These include sharing passion, integrity, honesty, and praise.
Value-driven leaders like former DaVita’s executive CEO, Kent Thiry, lead from a strong sense of purpose and responsibility to effect positive change. They have a clear understanding of their values and do not give in to pressure to sacrifice their values to achieve a result.
Shared Passion
Sharing your passion for a cause is an excellent way to motivate others. Passion is contagious. It comes from within and can inspire people to work towards a common goal. Leaders who inspire others to become more engaged in their cause will surround themselves with a team of like-minded people. The more passionate their followers are, their leadership will become effective.
People who are passionate about their work will feel as if it has meaning, just as Kent Thiry always thought of ways to foster a sense of community among his employees and provide opportunities for advancement. Leaders who are passionate about their work communicate this to staff members. Sharing the vision and purpose of the organization helps people get behind the idea.
Honesty
Communicating with others is essential to inspiring the best in people. Leaders can motivate people with honesty and understanding. For example, a CEO recently addressed the recent decline of the company’s stock during a company video. He didn’t sugarcoat the news or hide it; he asked his team to take the lead in turning the negative results around.
Leadership comes in many forms and is as individual as the people in it. While age, gender, education, and culture may influence leadership styles, true leaders have a common trait. Honesty is a foundational quality of any leader, whether personal or professional. They were honest, starting with understanding themselves. Honesty means embracing the truth and speaking it out loud. In addition, honesty inspires trust and loyalty, two essential qualities that will help you inspire others.
Integrity
Having integrity is a virtue, not just a trait. Instilling integrity in employees will allow them to avoid compromising their values in pursuit of success.
Integrity builds credibility. People trust honest and trustworthy people, so be a leader who lives up to their word. For example, a recent Gallup study found that most European workers trusted managers over company leadership, partly because managers have more frequent contact with employees. Regular conversations between managers and employees can foster trust and strengthen relationships. This trust will inspire employees to work harder. In addition, it will create a more favorable environment for the organization.
Sharing Praise
One of the best ways to motivate your team is to praise your people. Praise gives people the drive to continue doing great things. According to research, many agree that receiving well-deserved praise boosts their performance. It is also beneficial for the bottom line, as people are more likely to produce higher revenue or higher levels of productivity if they receive frequent praise. Furthermore, 66% of employees cite praise as a significant motivator.
Inspiring others is a valuable leadership skill. When a leader genuinely recognizes the accomplishments of her team members, they are more likely to produce high-quality work. This is because praise demonstrates that leader cares about their team.
The first step in encouraging others is to believe in them. A second step is to celebrate their progress. Achieving goals and seeing others achieve them is motivational.
Distinguishing Strengths
There are several ways to identify whether you are an inspirational leader. For instance, you can use a 360-degree feedback tool to determine your strengths and weaknesses. This method involves the input of your peers at every level of your organization and compares them to your results.
By understanding your muscles, you can use them to inspire others. You can also use this tool to determine if your leadership style is authentic or unauthentic.
Using your Distinguishing strengths, you can inspire others by modeling a positive attitude. For example, many people find it super inspiring when a leader positively deals with stress. Likewise, you’ll boost your people if you can display humility, vitality, and energy in your leadership style. Likewise, if you are centered and committed, people will look for you regarding your values.
The most important thing to remember is that you don’t need to be perfect to be a great leader. All you need is one distinguishing strength.
