The #1 Shift for Leadership That's (Actually) Inspirational

Let’s be honest, the term “inspiring leadership” has been so overused and written about it’s almost lost its meaning. And despite it being widely accepted as the pinnacle of leadership, it’s an art that very few leaders come even close to mastering.

Why is this?

What I’ve seen is that most leaders fall into one of two camps:

• They’ve written it off as something they don’t have time to figure out, that’s just not their “style”, that's too complicated, or as of much less importance than the million other things on their list.

• Or, they do classify themselves as an inspiring leader - but are far more often than not are in reality closer to nice, well-meaning managers.

Tapping into the art of inspirational leadership is one of (if not the) most worthwhile things you can spend your time, intention, and energy mastering - because it quite literally puts you in a different universe.  Clients that have mastered this art have watched as relationships, synergy, innovation, results, and level of fulfillment they experienced in their roles skyrocketed.

If you think you enjoy your role now - nothing can compare to the feeling of watching a team-member blossom in ways you could have never predicted, or of taking a group of people and turning them into a high-performing team of superstars. Not to mention the fast-tracking of your career, or the amplification of your company’s growth and impact that happens as the natural, inevitable by product.

And, while mastering anything takes time and commitment, the essence of becoming an inspirational leader is much simpler than it sounds. I’m going to be sharing the one key shift that will create a breakthrough in your ability to inspire. Simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy or comfortable, but we’ll get into that later!

What Inspiring Leadership Really Is

When a term has become so oversaturated in usage and interpretation, it can be helpful to get back to its core essence.

The definition of inspire is: “To breathe life into”

To be an inspirational leader then comes down to breathing life into others - into their gifts and their greatness.

The key word here? Others.

This is the biggest gap in what 90% of leaders miss in their approach (even when they think they're being other-focused!)  A big part of this is because, by nature, our egos are incredibly self-focused and have a tendency to make everything - even things inherently about others - about us.

This is why so many leaders mistake being inspiring with being: impressive, charismatic, influential, passionate, visionary, etc.

And while these are definitely helpful qualities, and when paired with an inclusive, leaned back leadership style, will definitely make people admire and look up to you, they’re not enough to truly inspire.

In fact, without the key ingredient I’m going to share with you, in the presence of an exceptionally impressive person many people end up feeling smaller in comparison. As a result, this can create an unconscious dynamic where they come to rely on the impressive person; to lean back and take a stance of passive direction-takers instead of activating and showing up in their own leaderships.

I see this regularly in the leaders I talk to - generally all very accomplished, passionate, charismatic and well-intentioned people - with complaints that are telltale signs of a team who hasn’t yet been truly inspired:

• Unmotivated team members who seem to be coasting
• Needing to be around all the time or things fall apart
• Feeling like there’s no one who’s at the leaders' level
• Frustration that they “have to” micromanage, or else
• Not feeling inspired themselves

So.. what’s the “secret”? Well, let’s look at who’s inspired you.

Who Are Your Inspirational Leaders?

Take a second and think of the people who’ve been the most influential in your life. While they might have been impressive in their own ways, if you really broke it down you’d probably see that the biggest impact that had on you - what felt most activating, energizing, and empowering - was how they saw you.

How they spoke to, listened, and regarded you that amplified your self-worth.

The level of belief they seemed to have in you before you really believed it fully yourself. 

The unearned trust and responsibilities they gave you that made you want to prove them right.

It was their perception of you that breathed life into and activated parts of you that you hadn’t yet been connected with yourself.

This could have been a high school teacher, a family friend, your first boss, or even a past co-worker. Because while people we are impressed or “inspired” by on paper might become our role models - the ones who truly leave a mark on us and our path changed how we see ourselves. (From a brain-based standpoint, this makes sense because our self-concept is the #1 factor in the results we can create).

There are countless stories of highly successful people who came from poor or broken backgrounds, but they had that one person who’d believed in them and in doing so activated the greatness within them, setting them on a different trajectory for the rest of their lives.

See how simple inspiring another human can be, and what it actually comes down to?

If you did nothing but set the intention to see and “breathe life into” others’ greatness, you’d be in a league of your own.  Intentionally and consistently apply that intention alone, and things will visibly shift.

Getting Beyond Yourself to Inspire

As I mentioned earlier, simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy or comfortable.  In a leadership role where there’s a lot at stake, there are already preconceived ideas about who people are, existing dynamics, and again - human egos in all of their complexity - truly mastering this and reaping the game-changing benefits is an art.

At the core of this?  Getting beyond yourself.

Or in other words, getting beyond the parts of you that prevent you from being an effective activator of inspiration despite your best efforts and intentions.

Let’s use the Four Aspects of Self and Intelligences framework I shared in a previous article to look at some examples (and if you haven’t ready this article yet, I highly recommend it!)

The Barriers & Intelligences of Other-Focused, Inspirational Leadership

Aspect #1 - Mental Self

Concept:  How you see your world - including the people you lead, is what’s ultimately creating it.

Barrier:  If your Mental Self is running you, you will be unconsciously seeing and creating the people around you.  When you project unconscious biases and assumptions onto them, label them and put them into boxes, that's where they will stay.  Your “seeing” of them will continually call forward those limited versions of them.

Intelligence #1 - Mental Mastery: Being able to set aside your preconceived notions of the people in front of you and intentionally choose to see them as uniquely gifted, powerful, and capable - even before there's evidence - is how you start “creating” them differently.

Aspect #2 - Unconscious Self 

Concept:  The unconscious beliefs you hold as you move towards a more inspirational leadership approach will determine how effective it can be.

Barrier: Subtly but distinctly different than the Mental Self, the Unconscious Self holds hidden universal beliefs or templates for how things generally go - including how other people behave. If you hold beliefs or mental programs such as, “people can’t be trusted,” or “if I’m too generous, I will be taken advantage of” you will continually manifest situations and circumstances that match those beliefs.

Intelligence #2 - Unconscious-Self Awareness:  This looks like being able to identify and reprogram any unconscious biases, fears, or expectations that would interfere with your conscious efforts and intentions.

Aspect #3 - Emotional Self

Concept:  The extent to which you understand and master this Self is the extent to which you are a safe place for others, and safety is the foundation of being able to inspire.

Barrier:  Being a leader who is unaware of or unable to process your reactions and triggers as they happen.  Even if you are good at putting on a friendly face, the emotional residue or “charge” can still be felt and will be a barrier to your team fully trusting and connecting with you.  And without this, it is quite literally impossible to inspire in the true sense of the word.

Intelligence #3 - Emotional Fluency:  This is your ability to fluidly process and move through any emotions that arise as you do this very new and often uncomfortable work that will allow you to stay in a clear and neutral space that others can trust.

Aspect #4 - Higher Self

Concept:  You are either leading from Higher Self or small self/ego at any given moment, and only one will make you successful in inspiring the people around you.

Barrier:  Most people have never intentionally made contact with or considered the idea of a Higher Self, and are by default operating through the lens of ego which lives in a world of fear, limitation, scarcity, competition, and self-centeredness.  As you can imagine, ego is by nature a barrier to being an inspirational leader.

Spiritual Intelligence: Intentionally building your connection to the perspective of your Higher Self (who lives in a world of abundance, generosity, possibility, and is other and service-oriented), simultaneously builds admiration, influence, and a reputation as a truly inspirational leader around.  Your Higher Self is inherently the most inspirational version of you as a leader.

Making the Shift

Awareness of these Selves, their potential barriers, and the opportunities of each corresponding Intelligence is powerful in and of itself.  Journal on and practice playing with just one of these for the next week and notice what changes: in you, the people around you, and how the dynamics and “mood” of your leadership feels.

This is a totally new paradigm, but even the smallest steps towards it have the potential to ripple into unimaginable shifts in the results you'll see mirrored back to you.

And when you’re ready to dive into inspirational leadership mastery, Quantum Leader is my bespoke 1-1 coaching program where we do just that!

Send me a message if you’d like more info, or to setup a discovery chat to see if it’s good fit for your current goals.