Why Inspiring Your Employees Is The Key To Success

In order for organizations to witness real breakthroughs, employees need to be not only engaged but inspired. From my years of experience as an entrepreneur and thought leader, I have seen how employees are far more productive when truly inspired, which in turn, inspire those around them to strive for greater heights.

For me inspiring leaders are those who use their unique combination of strengths to motivate individuals and teams to take on bold missions – and hold them accountable for results. I strongly believe that anyone can become an inspirational leader simply by focusing on his or her strengths. However, I have now learned that stress tolerance, self-regard, and optimism help leaders develop inner resources. Vitality, humility, and empathy help leaders connect. Openness, unselfishness, responsibility and accountability help set the tone. Vision, focus, mentorship, and sponsorship help them lead.

For me and many of my friends in similar positions it is in fact a state of mindfulness that enables us to remain calm under stress or pressure when leading a team. In order to motivate, educate and engage your peers, you must share power in decision making equally, inviting them to learn and grow from any disruption that may occur. To be truly aspirational one must always; empathize, listen deeply, and remain present.

To inspire your team as a leader you must recognize the need to pick moments of involvement carefully. This will reinforce a performance culture in a way that can also be inspiring, as it builds trust with your employees when you allow them to lead on projects individually.

A key learning is that effective leadership is far from generic. To achieve great performance your organization will need a leadership profile that reflects your unique context, strategy, business model, and culture—the company’s unique behavioral signature. Furthermore, to win in the market you operate in, you must emphasize the specific capabilities that make it better than the competition.

Last but not least, leaders can only change by doing things differently. The more often they behave in a new way, the sooner they become a new type of leader - an inspirational leader.