Inspirational Leadership
I have been hearing about inspirational leadership for a while now, not just when the pandemic started, but for about 7 years – when some remarkable gurus started to speak about the new role of leadership. Now with the digital revolution, the role of leadership does not only fall on the shoulders of those who have the “title” but also, on many others with no title at all – those with the ability to connect with others, influence and inspire people to follow them.
Nevertheless, coming from the business environment (20+ years of my life)
I learned about what “a leader” must be like to be successful in certain environments. I learned what to say, how to think, how to make decisions, how to respond to different types of challenges, among other things. And when I say “I”, I am not referring to just me, but to every management level I engaged and worked with in different industries throughout many years in my career.
This happened to me, at a point in my professional and personal life, when I realized that what was not good for me, not being coherent with myself, my values, or my way of thinking. This is when I decided to start changing the way I learn, the new way is to be just me! I am still on this path to be honest because it takes time to re-learn, to remove beliefs and to change behaviors – it is a journey, sometimes a painful one, but mostly a rewarding one – in the end it is the journey of my life.
This makes me think about what really means being oneself and becoming an inspirational leader, and then I start to discover that Being inspirational is not about showing-up, pretending, saying what others expect you to say or even to “succeed” according to society’s rules.To me, being inspirational is about being yourself your true-self – the human being behind the walls that people create to protect and defend themselves.
IS YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER PROGRESSING ON THE RIGHT TRACK?
Being inspirational is about living your life and following your dreams,
no matter how hard it can be. It is about understanding and recognizing our vulnerability, and that we make mistakes in our daily lives, that we have fears, insecurities, and traumas which perhaps we may have yet to overcome or control. Being inspirational is to awaken and understand that we have a mission in this life which supersedes the material priorities society has taught us to follow
I honestly don’t know the “right” answer or path to become an inspirational leader. However, I believe there is not a single way to be one, there are many ways to do it. It means to evolve as a compassionate and authentic human being who challenges the status-quo, one who truly connects with others, seeking to understand others’ realities and concerns. It is about being humble in every behavior and recognizing that the role of leadership is impacting people’s life in every moment, with both positive and negative unintended consequences.
Being an inspirational leader is about connecting with others, while not looking for the famous selfish behavior of “what’s in it for me”. Yet, there are always objectives to accomplish, problems to solve and challenges to overcome.
By being kind, authentic, and humble, a leader can start to inspire others. Think about how you are inspiring yourself to transform your own life. Then may be others could think of you as being an inspirational leader.
