A mere job title does not make a leader inspirational. Rather, it’s the ability to drive people to reach great heights of performance and success; and to further demonstrate qualities that inspire employees to emulate their behaviour. Passion, purpose, listening, and giving meaning to their role. While anyone can become an inspiring leader (they’re indeed made, not born), in most companies, there are far too few of them. It turns out that inspiration alone is not enough.
Just as leaders who deliver only performance may do so at a cost that the organization is unwilling to bear. Where as those who focus only on inspiring others, may find that they motivate the troops but are undermined by mediocre outcomes. Thus, a perfectly balanced leadership is a unique combination of strengths to motivate individuals and teams to take on bold missions while holding them accountable for the results. They unlock higher performance through empowerment, not command and control. Here are some of the ways how leaders both inspire great performance:
Care
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It is important as a leader to care for your team members in a organisation as much as you would care for your business. Nothing drains commitment from a team like feeling their efforts are going unnoticed. Leaders who do not show appreciation for their employees are putting their business at risk. Even if they experience temporary inflated rate of turnover, in the long run they are bound to struggle with lower output and ambient melancholy.
Even the smallest gestures of care can show people that they matter. A great leader should keep his eyes open for ways to help out with personal issues as well. Empathise and relate with them; Show you care about their personal life. Do things that set you apart and create opportunities for new experiences.
Push For Excellence In Team
If you want to inspire your team to do their very best, you as the leader have to let them know that they are a vital part of your team in order to motivate and build up a team for excellence, there are some key steps that you should follow if you want your company to be successful.Build a relationship with your team, Recognize them as a person, not just their ability and Make their success public
Lead With Both The ‘Head’ & The ‘Heart’
In today’s business environment, characterised by constant change, uncertainty, and highly complex challenges – it is important to lead with both, head and the heart. Leaders with highly engaged employees know how to demand a great deal from employees (head), but are also seen as transparent, collaborative, and great developers of people (heart). Your goal as leaders should be to have a healthy combination of both. As you grow as a leader, it will get easier to understand which to use, when.
Be Open To Learning
There is something to be learned every day, both by looking in the mirror at yourself and by looking at the people around you. As a leader, you need to have open ‘feed-forward’ sessions with your team members. This would help you to Identify you blind spots and improve accordingly. You should work to be more approachable.
Make Your Team Members Feel Valued
As a leader, you need to value the input of others and the diversity of ideas. Humility creates an environment where ideas are shared openly and treated with respect. As a leader, you should seek to understand and genuinely consider what others are intending to communicate, instead of dismissing them outright. Take out time to evaluate and take firm decisions that integrate a variety of perspectives in order to drive desired business outcomes. Also, be open to re-evaluating decisions when faced with new facts or circumstances.
We encourage you to share more such values that make a leader, truly inspirational!
