Just four simple components bring about incredible leadership. Inspiration, training, accountability and reward, on an ongoing basis, allow you to be the leader everyone wants to follow.
The Circle of Successful Leadership is a simple and powerful tool that creates amazing teams and lends itself to leadership equipping simply when followed. Note that inspiration 
starts the process. Inspiration inspires. This means it lifts people up, causes them to believe better, to believe more.
Inspiration occurs when a mere four activities takes place.
1. Provide inspirational material to your team.
2. Seek to understand by listening intently and mirroring back what was said. “Peanut butter and jelly training is an awesome inspirational tool!
3. Be the same person of integrity all the time.
4. Create a positive environment by giving positive nicknames and having fun.
Tell your team stories, show them movies, give them books and audios… all to help them feel the exhilaration of achieving their dreams. And since inspiration is the belief that achievement of dreams is possible, they begin to believe the achievement of their dreams is possible.
When our team watched Facing the Giants we all determined to do our real best.
When I showed them the short clip from American Idol where Paul Potts, a cell phone salesman with an operatic gift who would go on to perform in the most coveted of venues, the room wept at what was possible for regular folks.
When I told them the story about Esther who discovered she was born for a specific thing, a great thing, they were moved to think of all they have been born for.
When I played the song Brave, they got up and danced with passion!
But let’s talk about a few traits that inspire even more than the aforementioned.
Strong communication skills, seeking to understand the person you’re leading by asking good questions and listening intently when they talk will inspire beyond imagination. We all want to feel heard and need to be understood if our organization is to grow. Strong communication skills will inspire as your team will know you’re with them.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that simply because you said it, they got it… or vice versa.
Recently I was working with a team member who seemed determined to have us get our licensees their own website as part of our license. The conversation moved along and at one point, seemed to get heated. I finally said, “I cannot put this project in right now. I don’t live in quadrant one anymore! I don’t do this! I can’t move it from where it’s planned to now!” I felt exasperated.
She’s replied. “Oh, do you think I want you to move it to get it done now? I just want to know what you think I should tell them.”
I sat there feeling very silly and feeling very good about the fact that seeking to understand and mirroring really is an important tool; it’s vital, actually. Once we truly understood where the other one was, we were good. There’s inspiration in understanding.
I should have asked questions about what she meant. That brings understanding.
When a team member told me years ago, “I can’t feel like I work for you,” it was only through asking the question, “Do you mean you can’t feel like you work for ME or you can’t feel like you work for SOMEBODY BESIDES YOURSELF,” that the clarity came. Not only is inspiration the side effect of good communication, so is team building.
Peanut butter and jelly training inspires. Pretend a Martian comes to you and wants to know how make something they’ve heard of that sounds delicious… a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. How would you tell them to do it? Odds are high that you would forget to explain the little twisty wire on the outside of the bread bag, or how to take the bread out of the bag, or how to hold the knife, or what part of the bread to spread the yummy stuff on.
Effectively communicating what’s needed inspires because the listener knows what to do and the speaker knows they’ve communicated the goal well.
Good moral character will inspire too. Be the same person of integrity all the time. I teach my team about good character on an ongoing basis; it is one of the core values of our company, as a matter of fact. So they know what good should look like. If I mess up in life, I tell them about it and apologize. High moral character inspires. Being transparent takes the inspiration up 1000 degrees.
Keep the atmosphere up around you and your team. I’m not suggesting being fake, but I am saying it takes an inspired team to keep an inspired team going. So whether you feel like it or not, smile! Find reasons to celebrate, count your blessings, whatever you need to do, but feel gratitude.
I LOVE giving positive nicknames! Our marketing manager’s title is The Goddess of Global Visibility. One of our marketing team members is the Divine Mistress of Blogging (the end may change with her duties, but she’ll remain the Divine Mistress.)
I call my son Superstar and my daughter Beautiful Acorn. (Your family is your team too… you know that, right?) My son’s nickname was always Moochie Man but he reached a certain age where that was no longer good. I decided on Superstar because he was good at any sport he tried. When I asked him what his favorite birthday present was ever, he told me he didn’t remember the present, but he knew the memory. He remembered the words WELCOME TO DOUBLE DIGITS SUPERSTAR written on the bathroom mirror in lipstick on his 10th birthday. (He’s much older now, by the way. It’s obvious that positive nicknames inspire.)
Remember to inspire yourself on an ongoing basis and you’ll inspire them just by passing the info on. See… you’ll be living what you’re learning in front of them. And I’ve been told that’s the most inspiring story of all. One that’s filled with hope and is being lived right in front of you!