Leadership #Peopleskills: Inspire Employees to Succeed Not Cling to You
by Kate Nasser | 2 Comments »
Leadership People Skills: Inspire Employees to Inspire Themselves Further
Great leaders *don’t lift employees to new heights.
They inspire employees to lift themselves to new heights.
It’s a very important distinction in leadership.
Leadership #Peopleskills: Inspire Others to Soar Not Cling Image by: Flying Pterodactyl
Leadership #Peopleskills: Inspire to Soar Not Lean
I recently posed the question to leaders: How do you feel when people look to you for a boost of inspiration?
Responses included …
- Honored, inspired, and humbled. Some said that’s why I’m here!
- Then some deeper truth emerged as some said: “Honored except with some employees who drown themselves in negativity, do nothing with the inspiration I offer, and expect me to be their crutch or backbone.”
Leadership: How to Be an Inspiration not a Crutch
- Ask the employees to inspire you! Leaders become a crutch when they do all the inspiring. The message they send to employees: “Inspiring is my responsibility.” There is no stronger way to get employees to inspire than to sometimes ask them to inspire you! It awakens their potential and opens the door for its appearance.
- Ensure you don’t undermine your inspiration with perfectionism. I have witnessed leaders that were visionary, upbeat, and inspirational who also demanded perfection in performance. In response many employees clung to the leader’s every word to avoid criticism and reach perfection in the leader’s eyes.
- Address persistently negative attitudes don’t try to convert them. Many leaders subconsciously blame themselves if their inspiration doesn’t reach everyone. They make it their mission to win these employees over. The error is that employees decide what their attitudes will be. Engage employees to resolve tangible issues that frustrate them. Be open to their ideas. Call on their positive attitude in those discussions to find solutions together. Unchecked negativity impacts team morale and performance. Each must choose to contribute a can-do attitude.
Leaders — especially those new to leadership — spend some quiet time defining your role in inspiration. Then have open discussions with your teams about their expectations. Many assume inspiration is the leader’s job until the leader broaches the subject.
You will be presently surprised at how they will participate in inspiration once you ask them AND how it ignites their own motivation.
From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™
Related Posts:
Leadership: 5 Essentials for Building 21st Century Teams
Leadership: Be a Buoy Not THE Buoy
©2013 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.