Inspirational Leadership is a Learnable Skill

Inspirational leadership is a skill that may be acquired.  Leadership itself is an active, continual process of incremental improvement and striving.  Leadership does not merely happen.  It is a culmination of a lot of work and experience.  It is the sum of applied experiential knowledge.  Leadership is the art of providing direction, giving people a vision, and inspiring them to work towards that vision.  The best of leaders develop other leaders, nurture talent, and inspire them.  The best teams are teams of such inspiring leaders. 

Contrary to what most people believe, there is no one type of leader, or leadership style.  What we have are broad definitions of leadership, and even then, they have little relation to what actual leadership actually is, since these ideas are theoretical interpretations of reality without nuance.  Every single person is different, with their own historical baggage, own talents, and own prejudices.  Leadership is developed by taking it all down to the common denominator of humanity, and developing something within what each person is.  Leadership begins with values. 

It is a truism of Sufism, and many other philosophies, that knowing begins with the self.  We do not spend enough time, in this modern world, getting to know ourselves.  We need quiet time to sit aside, and question our intentions, to consider the voices within, and focus on the ones that elevate us, while ignoring the voices of doubt and despair.  We then need to question the intent of what we do, and why we do it.  It is always important to clarify the intent of any action we plan.  Then, we have that foundation to develop a leadership style. 

Just as we spend time knowing ourselves, we must then spend time knowing the people around us, the ones we build our team from.  This is more than just reading their personnel files, and knowing their academic qualifications.  This is about trying to understand their motivations, their needs, their challenges.  This is about walking in their shoes, and seeking to know who they are as people.  Knowing people means we develop connections and relationships.  It means we are better placed to nurture them, encourage them, inspire them.  We are no longer merely colleagues. 

Now that we know the team, we have to develop our communication channels.  This means understanding how to give an evaluation of performance and development, and having that mix of criticism and praise in our feedback to them.  It has to be honest, but it must also be constructive, subscribable, addressable, and measureable. 

As part of that feedback process, it is important to be transparent about the decision-making process as well.  This is especially pertinent when addressed disputes within the team, and fixing any form of dysfunction in the team dynamic before it takes root.  All members of the team need to feel safe enough to have their point of view without the feeling that they have to defend themselves.  We need to cultivate this plurality of views to prevent groupthink. 

Now that we have addressed the team dynamic, and values, we can talk about direction.  For there to be inspiration, there has to be positive movement.  People need to feel that they are part of something greater than themselves.  This means setting long-term and short-term priorities, and creating milestones appropriate to each category that are achievable.  There is no sense being overly-ambitious, and failing to meet deadlines because of this.  It is bad for morale, and undermines leadership credibility.  Once these long-term and short-term priorities have been set, it is important to explain the overall strategic plan specific to the team, that is married to this tactical plan.  Otherwise, they would not feel invested in it as much as they should.  This also means that these goals can be adjusted as the circumstances change, allowing tactical flexibility and giving the team ownership. 

When these steps can be implemented and reinforced, we have now created a culture of excellence that is replicable.  We are not just inspiring the team, but we are giving them the tools and opportunities to grow to become leaders in their own right.