Many of us aspire to being Inspirational and to having presence. Indeed, over 60% of leaders believe they are an inspiration to others at work. However, at BeTalent, we believe only 10% of the leaders we have known to be truly inspirational. We therefore see something great in ourselves that we just do not see in others!
So what does it mean to be Inspirational?
Defining and measuring what makes someone Inspiring is extraordinarily challenging. Perhaps this is because, at its core, it is viewed as a subjective concept, as an individual who inspires you may be very unique and special to your situation and circumstance. What you find inspiring in someone, others might not.
Reflection: Please take a moment to consider… Who is the most inspirational leader that you’ve been fortunate enough to work with?
We interviewed 200 high performing leaders to ask the same question. The aim was to understand the core characteristics of an Inspiring Leader. We identified 11 underlying factors required for a leader to truly inspire others and to have presence.
[table id=1 /]
Question: When you thought about your Inspiring leader, were any of these observable in the person that you just brought to mind?
From our research, we discovered that Inspirational Leaders are successful because they are motivational, driven, change-focussed and they communicate effectively with colleagues. They have the qualities of integrity, drive, engagement, vision and passion and they also have clear and impactful presence. They have the confidence to express their ideas with conviction, and finally the ability and desire to engage and influence others.
But… no two Inspirational Leaders are the same. They each demonstrate differing amounts of these Leadership Strengths, and are each unique in profile and perspective.
Better understanding of our leadership impact on others is vitally important in this VUCA (Volatile, Unpredictable, Complex and Ambiguous) world. Organisations need their leaders to have opinions, be proactive, and influence the workforce towards a shared vision. In uncertainty, the leaders of businesses must have credibility and confidence to ensure that everyone is on board with the future vision of the organisation.
We have seven tips for being more inspirational and having greater impact:
- Be true to who you are — live and work by your true values in the work place
- Operate with integrity — say what you mean and follow through on promises
- Understand your strengths — what you love doing
- Become an expert — build your credibility through learning opportunities
- Demonstrate your real excitement — allow your passion, motivation and vision to shine through
- Have belief in yourself — focus on the activities where you operate with strength and demonstrate real confidence
- Show a real interest in your colleagues — Ask questions to understand their ideas and development and wait for the answers
If you would like to know your core strengths as an inspirational leader you are welcome to complete the Inspiring Leader Questionnaire. Once you have completed the questionnaire, or if you are a coach, consultant or L&D practitioner and would like to become accredited to use the Team Type questionnaire, please email rhys.connolly@zircon-mc.co.uk. Here is a testimonial from a client:
The Inspiring Leadership training and accreditation programme was thought provoking and stimulating and has further advanced my skills, knowledge and know-how as a Performance Leader. Using the Inspiring Leadership questionnaire gives my clients a viewpoint of what it takes to be an authentic leader with presence and is outstanding in a coaching setting where the blending of the diagnostic assessment, card-sorting and coaching dialogue really unlocks the potentiality as individuals and future-focussed ‘Inspirational Leaders’. I would strongly endorse Zircon and the ‘BeTalent’ framework as one the most revealing and insightful Psychometric tools on the market; my results are my testament. Thanks Amanda and team Zircon….
Thanks for reading. We hope you enjoyed the post.
Dr Amanda Potter, CEO of BeTalent and Zircon Management Consulting
