8 Ways to Inspire Others and Support Their Careers
Communication and respect are the essence of inspiration.
When was the last time you met someone you found inspiring?
You may like watching TED talks and listening to inspirational leaders. But where is inspiration in your daily life? It makes a difference at your work if you consider it a fulfilling career or chores.
Leaders influence how others feel. Inspired people look forward to going to work. Yes, although it sounds crazy. Inspiration makes a difference in how the team works and what the productivity and morale are.
Give back and inspire. Consider these eight tips.
1. Study and analyze the general mood.
Some leaders are blind. They don’t want to see how others feel. ‘As long as’ the team is standing, everything is fine. Then, people start to leave. It is a symptom you should not ignore.
Poor loyalty and high attrition indicate employees are not happy. Why is that?
High turnover does not have to be only about the pay and benefits. Be receptive to what people say about their reasons. Lack of growth? No listening? No idea support?
Another indicator of poor mood is mistakes and a drop in productivity. If they do not care, you can say they are not inspired.
Study how others feel. Is there anything they feel unhappy about? You can’t inspire others unless you know about potential barriers.
2. Discover what they want.
Many managers think people want money, titles, and benefits.
Yet, you may have noticed that a pay raise does not solve everything. Some colleagues leave regardless. Nowadays, it is about flexibility, professional development, mental health support, and benefits above money.
So, get rid of the idea ‘let’s inspire with money’. It won’t work in the long term. Find out what people care about. How do they imagine their career and work-life balance? What support do they need?
3. Combine your skills to inspire.
Use your skills to inspire others. Get to know the context and what different people want. It will be easier to influence others and change or enhance some behaviors.
For instance, you can use empathy to build trustworthy relationships. When people feel understood, they would be open to ideas and inspiration.
Then, combine it with leading by example and setting a clear direction. Standards and quality are both important for inspiration. People tend to be inspired by leaders who drive success and understand and care about others.
4. Communicate generously
Communication is behind everything. You can’t master how to inspire others if you do not understand what they already appreciate and how they talk. What inspires them? What excites them?
Effective communication combines considering different perspectives and listening.
Don’t lock yourself in your office. Do not skip 1-1 meetings. Do not ignore the questions you get. Be present. Sooner or later, you will discover what communication skills you need to practice. Feedback, coaching, hybrid communication, empathy, etc.
5. Practice empathy
Don’t take empathy for granted. Consider this:
Don’t assume you know what others know
Don’t assume you know what others want
Prepare yourself for listening
Listen without distractions
Empathy is essentially about considering different perspectives. Being listened to, taken seriously, and feeling taken care of is one of the needs many employees have. You have it, too.
Give your time and mind to people. Give back what you like to experience. Empathy is one of the most powerful ‘tools’ to inspire others in business and private relationships.
First, listen, then inspire.
6. Set challenging goals
Do you have the courage to decide? Do you stay overtime and get things done when it is needed? Do you stay flexible even when you feel under stress?
Based on my experience, people feel inspired by leaders who set high goals. Leaders who go with the flow might not push people enough to achieve some success.
I am not a fan of ‘good enough’. That is an excuse for sloppiness and boredom. You need standards people can look up. They want to get closer to higher quality and to be like others who can already do the job.
Yet, avoid unreasonable demands and overtime. High standards are not about exploiting the capacity of your team. They are for their development and inspiration.
Utilize feedback and transparent actions. Apply standards to yourself, too. Lead by example.
7. Build relationships.
Can you inspire without trust and relationships? No, you need quality relationships. Without trust basis, people do not feel comfortable around you. They probably won’t listen much.
Scrap what you know about people. Approach them as if they were tabula rasa. Treat every person with curiosity and show you genuinely care about their interests.
Relationships take time, but they are worth investing your time. When you people enjoy working together and collaborating, it will be so much easier to understand how to inspire them.
8. Inspiration is not your end goal.
It would be lovely to treat inspiration like one task to do. The truth is that it is an ongoing process. So, you may think about what you want to achieve, but ultimately inspiration is a collaborative process.
Everyone has a different leadership style, communication, and ideas about what success looks like. What you want is to build mutual respect and make the essence of work a source of inspiration.
Then, you do not have to push hard to ‘inspire’ others. As it will become a natural part of collaboration. It does not mean it will become easier, and you should not think about it anymore.
You will need to continue practicing empathy, communication, decision-making, etc. But you will understand your environment and your coworkers much better.
TL;DR
One can say being a great example is enough. Try to focus more on building relationships filled with trust and respect. Get to know the people you work with. What they want, and how they communicate. Then inspiration won’t be a chore but your active involvement in their career growth.
Inspiration is both - goals and listening. Do not only give challenges. But also care to listen. That is how you support and inspire others.
See you next week! Ivona