In a recent survey of more than 1500 managers, people were asked what they would most like to see in their leaders. The most popular answer, mentioned by over 55% of people, was ‘inspiration’. When asked if they would describe their current leader as ‘inspiring’, only 11% said yes.”
Inspirational leadership is the purest expression of leadership because it creates a sense of intrinsic motivation within the follower. Being inspirational is more than just a vision, speech, or event. It’s more of an attitude, a mindset, and a process that needs to be honed and committed to with everything you do. Author John C Maxwell suggests there are five key attributes of an inspirational leader:
1. Attitude of service To be an inspirational leader, you must adopt an attitude of service toward those you lead. This requires laying aside selfish interests to add value to another person. When you serve, you awaken something magnetic inside of you. People are drawn to follow you because they know you’ll find ways to make them better.
2. Affirmation To inspire means to have a positive view of others. If we’re not careful, we become fault-finders, magnifying the flaws in everyone around us. Instead, leaders ought to search for the best traits within a person and commit to uncovering them.
3. Attentiveness Great inspirers know the desires of those they lead. As much as people respect the knowledge and ability of their leaders, these are secondary concerns for them. They don’t care how much their leaders know until they know how much their leaders care. When leaders attend to the deeply felt needs of their team, the determination and commitment of each team member is unleashed.
4. Availability Leaders inspire by intentionally investing time in the people they lead. They make themselves available. People cannot be nurtured from a distance or by infrequent spurts of attention. They need a leader to spend time with them - planned time, not just a conversation in passing.
5. Authenticity To inspire, leaders have to be genuine. More than anything else, followers want to believe in and trust their leaders. However, when leaders break promises or fail to honor commitments, they reveal themselves as being inauthentic, and they lose credibility. Trust rests upon a foundation of authenticity. To gain trust, a leader must consistently align words and deeds, while showing a degree of transparency.
I think these key attributes serve as a great self-check and framework for personal development in this area.