Research by a Columbia Business School psychologist identifies three universal behaviors of the most inspiring leaders.
Ever wonder in your place of work or career pursuit, there are some people capable of motivating those around them, while others leave a trail of frazzled employees in their wake?
The demand now is “How can you bring out the best in others as you move through your career?”
Adam Galinsky, a professor of leadership at Columbia Business School, has spent decades researching what makes some leaders inspiring and others infuriating. His new book, Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others, shares the three universal qualities of inspiring people.
“We all exist on a continuum of inspiring to infuriating,” Galinsky says. “This means that we aren’t born inspiring. Instead, it is our current behavior that inspires or infuriates us. The good news is we can become more inspiring by implementing these three universal qualities. And it’s OK if we have a bad day — we can just commit to doing better tomorrow.”
Inspiring Leaders Are Visionary
Humans are biologically conditioned to crave meaning. Inspiring leaders provide that meaning by communicating a vision — a big picture, optimistic look at the future.
“We crave a why. But not just any why. We crave an optimistic why, one full of hope and possibility,” Galinsky says.
Optimism is essential because it percolates energy. Across several experiments, Galinsky found that having people focus on what they hope to achieve in a negotiation leads them to secure better outcomes.
Optimistic visions are also more likely to be shared and remembered. “It’s not surprising that the political rhetoric most remembered throughout American history has focused on a brighter tomorrow, the sunrise side of the mountain, even in our darkest hours,” Galinsky says.
How can you get into a visionary state of mind? Galinsky’s research shows the transformative impact of simply thinking about your values and why they matter to you.
Inspiring Leaders Are Exemplars
Inspiring leaders are exemplars of desired behavior. They lead by example, showing everyone how to act. They’re calm and courageous, authentically passionate, and super competent (but also humble).
“Exemplars satisfy the fundamental need for safety and security, but also our need for passion and vitality,” Galinsky says.
Emotions are generally contagious, but the emotions of leaders are truly infectious. Galinsky notes that when we are leading others, our calmness becomes their calmness and our courage gives others courage. But it’s not all good news: Our anxiety also freaks others out.
So how can we get into an exemplary state of mind and feel more calm, courageous, and authentic?
Galinsky pioneered a simple intervention that has been validated in hundreds of experiments around the globe. Simply think about a time in which you felt powerful and in control.
When one of his doctoral students, Gillian Ku, did this reflection right before an important job interview at London Business School, she felt confidence course through her veins — and then she went out and nailed her interview. Twenty years later, she is the chair of her department at London Business School.
Inspiring Leaders Are Mentors
Inspiring leaders are great mentors. They empower and encourage others, but also challenge them to be the best version of themselves.
They treat people as people, and not as objects to be moved by force or as bargaining chips.
Galinsky quotes Confucius to illustrate inspiring empowerment: “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand.”
Galinsky adds, “Involvement moves us from the sidelines onto the playing field. We go from disengaged observers to active participants.”
For a quarter century, Galinsky has studied how practicing perspective-taking — looking at the world from another person’s vantage point — can get us into a mentor frame of mind.
Putting these three attributes into action — visionary, exemplar, and mentor — will help you inspire those around you.
With the right reflections — on our values, our super-confident experiences, and others’ perspectives — we can be more inspiring more of the time.
Inspired by Inc.com