Who is your inspirational leader

Openness, unselfishness, and responsibility help set the tone. Vision, focus, servanthood, and sponsorship help them lead. We found that people who inspire are incredibly diverse, which underscores the need to find inspirational leaders that are right for motivating your organization—there is no universal archetype.

A corollary of this finding is that anyone can become an inspirational leader by focusing on his or her strengths. Although we found that many different attributes help leaders inspire people, we also found that you need only one of them to double your chances of being an inspirational leader. However, there is one trait that our respondents indicated matters more than any other: centeredness. This is a state of mindfulness that enables leaders to remain calm under stress, empathize, listen deeply, and remain present.

To win in the market, every company must emphasize the specific capabilities that make it better than the competition. They make sure those capabilities get an outsized, unfair share of resources and provide the key players the freedom they need to continue to excel. You have to behave differently if you want your employees to do so. We found that leaders who both inspire people and generate results find ways to constructively disrupt established behaviors to help employees break out of culture-weakening routines.

Inspirational leaders recognize the need to pick their moments carefully to reinforce a performance culture in a way that can also be inspiring. These are real moments of leadership and truth. A few of our favorite, classic examples include:.

While these are only single actions by leaders who are famous for producing both performance and inspiration, they provide a window into what inspirational leadership looks like.

Inspirational leaders never let anyone go forgotten. They acknowledge even small successes, show appreciation, and give personalized feedback. As a result, the team develops a stronger bond and employees are more likely to stay at the company. On many occasions, it is actually far more important to listen than to speak.

Inspirational leaders make sure everyone is aware that they are open to hearing suggestions, questions, and feedback. As a result, everyone on the team feels that they matter. A key aspect of inspirational leadership is respect. It is impossible to be a good leader if you treat some people better than others or show favoritism. Besides, you need to give respect if you are to gain respect. Instead, it means allowing others to be who they are and embracing that.

Inspirational leaders even go one step further. They also know that the company is much more likely to see success if everyone on the team is given the chance to shine. Top leaders are not driven by personal achievements. Rather than delegating tasks to be able to go home sooner, they stick with the work until the end.

Often, they pick up the work no one else wants to do. Selflessness matters because it allows leaders to focus on the professional and personal growth of their team members. Inspirational leaders do everything in their power to help subordinates grow in their careers and become great leaders themselves.

Communication is everything. Poor communication leads to mistakes — followed by frustrations when work needs to be redone. Influential leaders take the time to ensure their communication is clear and that everyone has understood. They neither over-communicate think: hold far too many meetings nor under-communication for instance, send short, cryptic memos.

No one finds it easy to avoid distractions percent of the time. The strongest people are unafraid to show their vulnerable side: they know that this only shows they are human. Vulnerability also helps leaders develop a connection with others. Expressing vulnerability gives team members the strength to do the same. Going forward, they are all able to work on their weaknesses together. Inspirational leaders are willing to hold themselves accountable for mistakes, even when they are not directly to blame.

They recognize that, since they are responsible for the oversight of the team, they are accountable to some extent. They never allow their pride to interfere nor do they ever use a subordinate as a scapegoat. Those who are emotionally dysfunctional are unable to lead themselves, let alone others.

Often, the complete opposite is true. Take, for example, Hayley Mulenda. She turned her pain into purpose and is now an international keynote speaker, teaching others to do the same. Within a few years the mission went global. By the s, the congregation was helping orphans and those afflicted by addiction, poverty, disability, old age and disaster around the world. In , Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to overcome poverty and suffering.

Teresa of Calcutta for her heroic virtue. Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS at the age of 21, he would spend most of his life severely disabled to the point where he controls his communication device through movement of his cheek muscles. Despite his debilitating condition, Hawking became arguably the most well-known theoretical physicist since Albert Einstein. Hawking is known for his groundbreaking work on cosmology, quantum physics and black holes.

Hawking came from humble beginnings. Much has been written about Hawking and his thought-provoking theories on the universe. He has received worldwide acclaim not only for his work, but for his determination in overcoming a severe disability. When he was originally diagnosed with ALS, he was given only two years to live.

That was over 50 years ago. On overcoming his disability, Hawking provides this brilliant quote:. His ex-wife Jane Hawking attributed his outlook on the world to a combination of determination and stubbornness. As Hawking clearly demonstrates, both traits have their pedigree. As does his humor and humble nature, which has been evident throughout his career. For instance, when asked what it feels like when he makes a significant scientific discovery, Hawking replied:.

Very few people are as synonymous with their industry as what Bill Gates is with information technology IT. He actually paid to use it, and when his money ran out, he hacked into the computer to use it for free. At this point you could say young Bill was destined for an innovative career in IT.

Bill Gates grew up in an upper middle class family in Seattle, Washington and had a very close relationship with his mother. From an early age he showed flashes of brilliance, including a knack for business and entrepreneurship. By the age of 15, he had already started a business with his friend Paul Allen.

Little did they know that just 5 years later they would be on the path to changing the way the world does business and even communicates. In , Gates and Allen co-founded Microsoft. And the two poured everything they had into it. In the process, he became incredibly wealthy.

Just two years later, the company went global. That was the year Microsoft launched Windows, its flagship software. For more than two decades, Gates has routinely ranked among the richest people in the world, and in , Forbes trumped this by ranking him as the richest man in the world.

Gates worked tirelessly to build Microsoft and ensure its leadership pace in an increasingly competitive market. It is by far the largest private foundation of its kind in the world. Oprah Winfrey is much more than a television talk show host. To say that Oprah, a black woman from the south, overcame the odds would be a huge understatement. Very few people with her background and double-minority status would ever dream of making it in show business during the s and s. Her youth was filled with horrible sexual abuse at the hands of relatives and family friends.

After a turbulent adolescence in the small farming community of Kosciusko, she moved to Nashville to live with her father.

She would eventually enter Tennessee State University in before moving to Baltimore, Maryland 5 years later to begin her career in television. By , Oprah had her own nationally syndicated television program, Oprah Winfrey Show. This was the platform that catapulted her to critical acclaim and global recognition. During the s, when talk shows like Jerry Springer were dominating the ratings with trashy topics, Oprah promised to keep her show respectful and free of exploitive topics.

Although ratings fell initially, Oprah stuck to her guns. This segment of her show not only promoted literacy, it helped unknown authors become recognized for their work.

Through various charities, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to help children and underprivileged youth all over the world.

According to Forbes, Oprah was the richest African American of the 20th century. Life Magazine also recognized her as the most influential woman of her generation , a testament to this media icon who has not only done it all, but inspired an entire generation of young women to pursue their dreams — regardless of their race or ethnicity.

Ten inspiring leaders whose vision, perseverance and commitment to their values helped them rise up in the face of adversity and achieve almost impossible triumphs. Learning more about their incredible stories and how they have redefined leadership has given us more of an insight into what it takes to become an inspiring leader, how about you? This information is never shared with 3rd party companies. Tweet 1.