Inspirational leadership—leadership capable of taking an organization and people to new heights--has become the buzzword in today’s business world. For a good reason: it is the most effective way to persuade teams of talented individuals—the foundation of modern corporations—to share the vision of the organization.
But how can one become an inspirational leader? What does it take?
The quick answer is outstanding academic credentials and exceptional work experience. Inspirational leadership begins with the entry to a top MBA program or an engineering school, followed by tenure with a reputable organization.
The slow answer is that inspirational leadership takes more than academic credentials and technical experience.
As discussed in The Ten Golden Rules Of Leadership, leadership is an uncommon composite of skill, experience, and ripened personal perspective. It is, of course, the last of those elements that separates and sets apart the inspirational leader from those who simply “run” organizations, leaders who help organizations thrive, and leaders who ruin the organizations.
Ripened personal perspectives are an essential ingredient in a leader’s efforts to develop and articulate a sound corporate vision. Inspirational leaders, people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, see things more rapidly than do the typical executive. At least in part, their insights are a reflection of an “inner” clarity that allows for fuller concentration of the challenges at hand.
This is why real leadership is not a matter of academic credential, why it cannot be “done by the numbers,” and why those who have failed to comprehend the motivating subtleties in their own lives are unlikely to achieve the status of “leader.”
Simply put, what distinguishes the real leader, the man or woman who makes a tangible difference in the workplace, from a mere administrator is a unique series of perspectives and values. Where others become entangled in details and trivialities, genuine leaders employ methods and approaches reflecting a clarity and insight that come only from a well-examined life.
Only those men and women who have cultivated a carefully conceived philosophy of life are ready and able to exhibit the kind of workplace mastery suggested by the term “leader.”
That’s why leadership begins from inside.
