Five tips for inspiring leadership development in ourselves and others

I recently had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Richard Boyatzis, Ph.D., a Distinguished University Professor at Case Western Reserve University and author of over 150 articles and best selling books such as Becoming a Resonant Leader and The Competent Manager. Dr. Boyatzis emphasized numerous tips for inspiring leadership development in ourselves and others, with 5 key ones being:

1. Great leaders move us through our emotions. Emotions are the music of leadership. Leaders can create buy-in with emotional arguments and by being on the same wavelength as others.
2. The most effective leaders are ‘ask and inspire’ not ‘command and control.’
3. Great leaders inspire through hope and vision. They spread compassion – feeling others’ pain and joy.  They inspire others by creating and maintaining resonance.
4. Effective leaders realize that emotions are contagious. We are wired to pick up subtle clues from one another.
5. The best coaches possess the following key competencies: emotional intelligence (ex., self-awareness), social intelligence (ex., empathy), and cognitive intelligence (ex., pattern recognition).

How do you inspire leadership?

Written by: Mary C. Zahner, Ph.D.