“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” — William Arthur Ward
Motivating your people is important. Sometimes we have to turn on the “you can do it” chant! But it’s amazing how much more can be accomplished in the way of growth when you inspire those around you. Of course you cannot inspire anybody to grow if you’re not focusing on growing yourself!
This past week I was honored to be able to teach a lesson on my passion for Company Culture at the largest Landscape show in North America in Louisville, KY! As I was preparing my notes, I noticed that throughout the bulk of my presentation, I had included inspirational captions, photos, and quotes. It was obvious to me that I was teaching on how to inspire fellow CEO’s and business owners to be better, not motivating them. Over the years I have come to realize that the best way to grow others is not telling them what to do, and assume that I know it all as I used to think in my early years of leadership I needed to know everything like a human leadership dictionary – But actually the best way to lead and grow others is to show what has / has not worked for me, share my wins / shortcomings, and through that teaching work to inspire them towards their own dreams and goals.
A big part of becoming an inspiration is setting an example and leading from the front. You can do this in any number of ways, but it’s best to start with the relatively small everyday things and build up to larger items. Spend some time thinking about what you can improve on your day-to-day basis and make yourself a list.
A great way to start becoming an inspiring person yourself can begin by doing the following:
- Be passionate about the goals of your company: Show emotion, and generate enthusiasm for these goals in your employees.
- Connect with your Team by showing real interest in them: Find out what motivates and inspires them, and actively look for their ideas and opinions to make the company better.
- Be somewhat unconventional and take personal risks: Do this by doing things differently and operating outside ‘normal’ organizational boundaries and outside your comfort zone, and coaching your Team to do the same.
- Make sure inspirational moments are succeeded by follow on actions: So your Team sees that you act upon your inspiration!
- Be engaging and a team person: This is in addition to regularly expressing to your people it is all about “we” and not about “I”
- Become a “storyteller” who is able to package up messages: Do this in an appealing form that captivates your Team!
Most people can remember individuals that inspired or improved them in some way along their leadership journey. Chances are, these individuals inspired you to push yourself and achieve something memorable and significant, or just to work towards being a better person. There is no single way to solely be an inspiration to other people. But leading by example and taking time to help others elevate themselves and broaden their view of the world is a great place to start. Spend some time identifying what or who has and still inspires you, look at the qualities that make them inspirational, and plan to make those qualities a part of who you are. I can honestly say whole heartedly – My goal every single day is to be an inspiration to my Team at every single thing I do. If at the end of the day I succeeded at just that goal, in just one way, then I view my day as a Win.
Your life has been a journey — How can you use your story to be an inspiration to somebody today?