The power of inspirational leadership: A 3-step guide for CEOs

Chances are that before becoming a CEO, you’ve encountered at least one leader in your career with an infectious passion for their work and an equal desire for nurturing talent in others. Working for someone who provides that level of inspirational leadership was exciting and rewarding.

Indeed, those types of leaders are often said to be born with a natural gift, but with the right intentions and strategies, you can develop the skill set, too.

“An inspirational leader is someone who keeps their organization and their constituents motivated to be supportive,” says Adam Hartung, managing partner at SparkPartners in Napa, California. “An inspirational leader will have employees that are supportive of the organization. They also have suppliers that are supportive of the organization. They have customers who support the organization, and they have a community that supports the organization.”

True inspirational leaders ignite a powerful chain reaction. By championing initiatives that reflect genuine values, they spark passion and purpose throughout their teams.

What is inspirational leadership?

Inspirational leadership is the ability to motivate, energize and empower those around you by creating a shared vision of success and fostering a workplace culture where people thrive.

“Inspirational leadership goes beyond factors and figures, it creates a compelling vision,” says Chris Westfall, president and CEO of Westfall and Associates LLC in Houston. “When a vision is compelling, it inspires actions.”

Westfall adds that inspirational leadership doesn’t inform or teach; it captures people’s hearts and gets them to go beyond understanding and implementing the vision. To do so, leaders actively seek out and listen to feedback, incorporate feedback when possible, and make the team feel included.

Unlike other control-based leadership styles, inspirational leadership is shared throughout the organization. While CEOs sometimes must specify exactly what must be done, simply distributing edicts is a strategy that is falling out of favor and being replaced with a shared decision-making approach.

“An inspirational leader is someone who leads with their heads, hearts and hands to take a humanistic approach to lead and specifically when leading change,” says Barbara Trautlein, principal of Change Catalysts, LLC in Vernon Hills, Illinois. “It is a powerful combination of strategy and vision, plus ensuring we have the necessary resources and processes, plus intentionally engaging in a way that brings people along.”

Why inspirational leadership matters for CEOs

When CEOs share leadership across the organization, their teams perform better, they report higher employee engagement levels, and ultimately, they experience greater business growth.

“Creating a culture where people feel they can get their voice heard without fear of repercussion, vilification, or negative repercussions is not just a nice thing to do. It’s a bottom-line business imperative,” says Trautlein.

Inspirational leadership is a business imperative because it:

• Impacts employee motivation and engagement. Employees who feel valued and heard are more motivated and committed to an organization. Feeling “overlooked” or ignored ranks as a top reason people leave organizations, which hurts retention and drives up hiring costs.
• Contributes to a positive company culture. Studies have shown that organizations with a positive company culture enjoy higher annual revenues.
• Drives business growth and innovation. Teams with inspirational leaders may have a higher chance of achieving and surpassing goals. They are passionate about their work and ensure their values align with the team while encouraging those around them to regularly set and achieve goals.

4 key traits of inspirational leaders

Understanding inspirational leaders’ traits is important for knowing which skills to focus on to develop yourself. Here are 4 traits inspirational leaders share.

1. Growth-minded outlook

Inspirational leaders see opportunity, encourage growth and think outside the box. Professional development is just one piece of growth. Hartung says it extends to multiple strategies that recognize what is important to today’s workforce, such as offering flexibility like work-from-home and job sharing.

2. Vision setting and strategic thinking abilities

CEOs must be able to define where the organization is going and why it exists so that all levels of employees have guidance to turn to when making decisions. Inspirational leaders will look outside the business and within their broader team to consider broad perspectives and ask for input on a vision and strategic plan before putting them in place.

3. Empathy and emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is equally (arguably more) important than IQ and expertise to be seen as a leader people want to follow. Inspirational leaders invest in developing these skills and have what Trautlein coined Change Intelligence® (CQ®).  “Change is the only constant, and to lead ourselves and others successfully through change, we need to take a very humanistic approach.”

Communication skills and transparency. Hartung points out that it is a myth that individuals must be good speakers to be inspirational leaders. Being transparent and keeping constituents informed is essential, but there are other forms of communication that contribute to making someone an inspirational leader.

“They demonstrate what’s important in their daily activities by taking care of customers and suppliers,” he says. “If you’re blessed to have a good mind and mouth connection, that’s a good thing to have, but it’s not the only way to be an inspirational leader.”

Hartung uses the founder of Whole Foods as an example. John Mackey isn’t the strongest speaker, but he has been highly effective at inspiring an entire organization, supplier base and community to achieve astronomical organizational growth and success.

4. Authenticity and integrity

Trust is central to effective leadership. That’s true for employees, suppliers, customers and investors. Inspirational leaders cultivate trust with internal and external stakeholders through authenticity and integrity.

Practical strategies for developing inspirational leadership skills

Becoming an inspirational leader requires a willingness to embrace new strategies. These 3 approaches can get you started on your journey to becoming an inspirational leader.

1. Set a clear, compelling vision

Hartung says you should devote time to defining a clear, compelling vision by looking outside the company.

“That seems paradoxical because for years through education programs, MBA programs and books, a lot has been written about looking inside the company and understanding their core and how to maximize it,” he says. “If we look at inspirational leaders who are adding value to the company for their investors and constituents, they are spending a lot of time looking outside and seeing opportunities.”

He uses AI as an example. Company leaders who create excitement, inspiration and organizational health look at AI from the standpoint of how it can open new markets, lead new client services, or improve relationships with suppliers rather than cutting back on staff to cut costs.

2. Encourage open communication and feedback

Experts regularly encourage leaders to create a culture that values open communication and feedback. Not only does this help build trust, but it can also influence the likelihood that a person will act on a leader’s vision.

“There was a watershed study that leaders who offer reasons for their actions and choices have up to a 94% chance of being more compelling and persuasive,” Westfall says.

Effective communication and feedback is essential to delivering messages that encourage those you lead to act.

3. Look inward

Self-reflection is a critical strategy for individuals committed to developing inspirational leadership skills. Trautlein shares a credit union CEO client experience as an example. The CEO approached Trautlein with a bold, inspirational vision to modernize their banking technology. Credit unions are mission-driven — a very high-heart culture — versus traditional banks, which often focus more exclusively on the bottom line and are high-head cultures.

“Most of the leadership team was a very high heart, and she was a very high head, so they were not on the same page, and this was preventing positive change from happening,” she explains. “We helped her adapt her approach so that she could help the team understand that the change was going to help further the mission.”

They implemented a comprehensive training program, from the CEO to tellers, focusing on collaborative communication and change management to help everyone understand how the technology could enhance their work while maintaining their member-focused values.

“They launched in February 2020 and then the pandemic hit,” she says. At the end of 2020, their financial and employee engagement results showed that they were stronger financially and culturally 10 months into the pandemic because it wasn’t just the CEO forcing this. It was all levels, collaborating, giving and receiving feedback and owning it to make it happen.”

Can inspirational leadership backfire?

In short, yes. Specific situations and emergencies require decisiveness, directness and clear directions. Clear instructions help prevent confusion and even panic in these scenarios.

“However, it’s essential to have established a culture that prioritizes inclusion in decision-making so that when the time comes for more direct, controlled leadership, employees don’t view the actions as simply ‘barking orders,’” Westfall says.

For most people, change is uncomfortable, and when they struggle, leaders often equate hesitancy to resistance. To be successful, inspirational leaders must comprehend that the key to addressing resistance is understanding how people are wired.

“Fear is what creates resistance to change,” he adds. “Inspirational leaders know that uncertainty surrounds us and are able to take a point of view that encourages and inspires people to see the possibilities.”

He recommends reading “Livewired” by David Eagleman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University who hosted a PBS show in 2015 called The Brain. “It is the most inspirational book I’ve read in the last 10 years and looks at resilience, not from the standpoint of trying to uplift them, but the science behind resilience in the human operating system and how it is built into our DNA.”

Trautlein agrees that inspirational leaders approach “resistance” differently. Instead of seeing individuals as negative complainers and getting defensive about questions, she recommends leaders alter their mindsets.

“There’s gold in there when people are asking questions or demonstrating resistance,” she says. “Reframing resistance from an enemy to an ally allows you to leverage it as a powerful source of information. That’s vital for you as a leader because it gives you a chance to get under the hood and understand their concerns or the information and resources that might be missing.”

CEOs must navigate many challenges in today’s business climate. Leaders who can develop the skills and employ strategies associated with inspirational leadership will experience greater employee engagement, increased creativity and improved bottom-line results.

“If you wish to inspire, don’t fall into the trap that because you have a certain title or certain size to your office, you’re the only expert,” Westfall says. “Remember, it is your job to show up with your expertise to activate everyone else’s expertise.”

Change Intelligence® and CQ® are registered trademarks of Barbara A. Trautlein, PhD. All rights reserved.

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