Transforming leaders Inspire

http://transformingleaders.net/blog/2011/11/17/transforming-leaders-inspire/
I have been pondering even more on what leadership really is and have realised a few things, here.

Many present day politicians talk about their plan. Very few talk about their dream. Their vision for the future of the community.

Landmark education states that to get somebody to do something you must touch move and inspire them. So how do you do that ?

Landmark says that everything in this world only exists in the realm of possibility. There are no definites in life. No sure fire winners despite what the talking heads of advertising tell you. There is no tooth fairy either.
Sorry… that was your mum and dad.!

So how do you create a compelling message that the world will be touched moved and inspired by ?

How about if you were to discover a possibility you could create for your self that other people also resonate with and could get inspired by. I believe, from memory that the way you put it is this.

“To create a possibility for yourself in just such a way that other people get that possibility for them self”

By the way a possibility is just a vision and maybe you can use this frame for creating your vision statements.

So let’s unpack what’s going on here. (Linguistically that is ) and then I’ll look at the emotional aspects of transformational leadership. There are some presuppositions in the sentence. The first being that there are possibilities out there and that You can create them. The other inherent presupposition is that these possibilities will be so powerful that they will not only touch, move and inspire you . They will inspire others enough that they will “get it” that it’s possible for them too.
So what are some of the qualities of inspirational leadership?

1/ It’s not about you. No truly great leader ever did anything that was overtly for them. Those that did are called dictators. Think…Ghandi

2/ The possibility has to be bigger than what one person can achieve alone. If it was a solo effort how would you need others to become involved ?

3/ It shall be for the greater good of not just your group, tribe, race or creed but for the greatest good of humankind. Anything else ends up as being the slippery slope to conflict.

4/ Your Vision ( possibility..) must align with the dreams, ethics and values that are common to all of us. eg: Love, fairness, equality and freedom of choice…

5/ The vision should involve an element of courage on your part and empower others to feel courageous too. For example medicin sans frontiers

6/ The vision shall give people the possibility of being heroic in some way. Consider if you will what it took to stand in front of a tank in Tainamen Square. this is extreme I know but somebody got inspired enough to do it.

7/ The transforming leader will create possibilities that increase the choices for those that choose to follow them.

One of the other important things to consider is that until you have honed the skills needed to inspire others to take action you won’t have much impact. Ethical sales are very much part of what it takes to lead others.

The first sale is to you..! Only when you are certain that you are aligned with all of your values and with the ethics of your tribe can you have the positive impact you want to be.

Once you have done that and only after you have done that can you…



Allow yourself to dream big dreams. Massive visions.



But not for you alone.



Become the dreamer for your world.

Why must transforming leaders inspire others ?

http://transformingleaders.net/blog/2011/11/17/why-must-transforming-leaders-inspire-others/

Why must transforming leaders inspire others ? It may seem like a silly and obvious question but have you ever stopped to consider the answer ?

First before I answer the question let’s take a look at the environment that the world occupies right now.The average person in the street is BOMBARDED with over 10,000 bits of advertising every day. Things like posters, billboards, signage on shops and vehicles, advertisements in magazines, newspapers, fliers blowing down the street, TV and radio advertising. And then there’s the internet. banners, Google adsense, graphics and videos. Plus the ever present SPAM from some guy on Russia who’s trying to convince you you need to upgrade your sexual abilities. (Actually they do that on TV now too )

Now here’s the question for you.
How much of what this barrage of bull promises, do people really believe ?

What is the factor that seperates out the stuff they do believe from the tacky LOUD lies being pumped into their consciousness.

The answer is inspiration. Inspiration and perceived achievability. So what this means that while it may be possible for you, to climb Mount Everest, the odds are that your tribe may not. And why would they want to ? It’s cold and dangerous and there are no shops or restaurants there in which they can be seen being successful. It also requires planning and blocking out periods of time where they won’t be able to do normal things like spend time with the family.

So for your average Joe or Joanne in the street they’re not generally looking for anything too taxing.This is why retail therapy is one of the most popular sports on the planet. People get to play dress up and can pretend that they are rich, glamorous and desirable.

So I think we agree that Inspiring others to change their behaviour is an up hill task. It must either be something that they are motivated to do because of a perceived injustice ( Occupy Wall Street is an example of this. The Vietnam war was another ) or because of a shared sense of impending doom ( global warming ).

There is a third possibility and that is “The great transformation and redemption” ( charismatic Christianity and Islamic jihads ).
Getting kudos from great deeds done in the service of humankind is a combination of all of the above. Often this ocurs on an internal level in people and people such as Mother Theresa of Calcutta and Albert Schweitzer spring to mind. Thomas Jefferson and the other founders of the United States of America are examples of this.

They had a common enemy King George of England. ( The great injustice )
There was a seemingly impossible task ( the ordeal ) creating a seperate nation that was independent.
There would be a great transformation through the principles of freedom , liberty and equality.
It went beyond th egeographical boundaries or the USA and reached out to all the people of the Earth which means it transcended traditional boundaries of national identity . Eventually it transcended ( in theory anyway ) race and religion.
It was the classic example of loss and redemption. The heros Journey.
“The hero with a thousand faces” by Joseph Campbell is an excellent examination of this idea.

As you may have worked out there are many aspects that go to make up becoming a transforming leader and I intend to tease them out for you in future articles which I will publish.

If you want to contact me about anything written here you can do so via my contact page or by commenting below..