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INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS
JOURNAL
Small
Biz
VOL. 26 NO. 346, OCT. 31-NOV. 6,
2005
Leadership
Do you inspire
your staff?
Try it - you may like it
By CJ
McClanahan
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My experience
tells me that a very small percentage of company presidents,
managers and supervisors truly inspire their staff. They
might build solid teams, set clear expectations and reach
most of their goals, but they fail to inspire their people
to reach and become better.
But if you're building
effective teams and getting adequate results, does
inspiration really matter that much?
The answer
depends on what you want out of your organization. If you
are satisfied with your current results and don't mind
replacing your best people every few years, I would put down
this article and get back to managing your staff.
However, if you are interested in creating a
remarkable culture that exceeds expectations, keep reading.
The importance of inspiration
In his latest
book, "The 8th Habit--From Effectiveness to Greatness,"
Stephen Covey points out that "Leadership is communicating
to people their worth and potential so clearly that they
come to see it in themselves." In other words, he believes
leadership is primarily about inspiring others to reach
their full potential.
OK, so inspiration is an
important part of leadership, but why is it such an
essential component in creating an outstanding company?
There are three key reasons.
First, if you
are able to effectively inspire the most valuable members of
your team, you will keep them from leaving. Because it is
their nature to continuously look for ways to improve, they
get bored with the status quo--no matter how satisfying it
seems to everyone else. In addition, you will need these
team members to assume leadership roles in the future as you
grow. Promoting average employees to key leadership roles
because your best employees have left eventually will lead
to low morale and anemic growth.
Second, as you face
difficult times--which every great company does--it will be
your best employees that help you push through to the next
level. You will need their enthusiasm and brainpower when
trying to determine the best way to deal with difficult
challenges. These people will not put in the extra hours for
a leadership team that isn't helping them to develop new
skills and improve. However, they will do whatever it takes
for those leaders who are inspiring them to reach their full
potential.
Third, you need these people to help your
organization think "outside of the box." The truth is that
remarkable companies need remarkable solutions in today's
ultra-competitive marketplace. These answers are seldom
found in the operations manual. They require a higher level
of dedicated thinking, the kind of dedication you get from a
talented employee who feels that your leadership is exactly
what he/she needs to excel. Chances are slim you will get
this effort from employees who just finished updating their
resumes.
How do you inspire your team? It's not
easy, but through disciplined effort, most leaders can learn
to inspire their staff. The best way to get started is to
focus on the following simple steps:
-- Clearly
communicate your company's vision to your team every single
day. Most people will put in the extra effort if they know
where they are going.
-- Identify the potential
leaders on your team and focus your efforts on these
individuals. I am not suggesting that you ignore the rest of
your staff, but, I am recommending that you dedicate the
majority of your time to those individuals who will help
take your organization to the next level.
-- Find
out what these key employees want. That is, help them to
identify their own vision. Once you know what it is, provide
them with opportunities to develop the skills necessary to
realize their vision.
In today's work environment,
most leaders feel overwhelmed. The need to produce immediate
results forces them--or us, since I am right there with
you--to focus on the now, instead of considering the future.
My challenge to you is to be clear about where you
are going and remember that, every time you inspire a member
of your staff, you likely have improved productivity,
increased effort and helped to build the future of your
remarkable company.
McClanahan is a business
coach with Action International. He can be reached at
845-9742 or info@coachcj.com.
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