How to Inspire Others
November 21st, 2010 | 
Author: Inspire: Archaic .
a. to infuse (breath, life, etc.) by breathing (usually fol. by into ).
b. to breathe into or upon.
Isn’t this a lovely (although archaic) definition of the word “inspire”? It truly provides us with a pathway for imagining what it means to be an inspirational leader. When we inspire, we breathe into ourselves in order to breathe upon others and give them life. It makes sense – when a leader is inspirational (i.e., gives others “life”), others want to follow. My guess is that most of you, if asked, would indicate that you want to inspire (breathe life into) others.
However, there is a difference between acting inspirational and being an inspiration. I would argue that in order for a leader to be an inspiration, they must breathe in inspiration; they need to be inspired. My advice is that to begin your journey of becoming an inspiring leader you must seek out inspiration wherever you can find it. You can then use the inspiration you’ve found to inspire others.
Where to look
Inspiration is personal and specific to each of us. Where one person will find inspiration, another may not. Some find it inside themselves, others find it in the external world; many of us find it in both places. Here are some places to look and some questions to ask yourself that may help you to find inspiration:
Look inside yourself:
- What is my core purpose in life? How do I express it in my leadership?
- What am I passionate about? Am I connecting my passion with the way I lead? How can I get better at it?
- What is it, within me, that inspires me to take action? How will I follow and express that inspiration?
Look to the external world:
- Who inspires me? What do I observe them doing that moves me? How might I move others in my own way?
- What are the characteristics of the people or things things that inspire me? How might I convey more of those characteristics in my leadership?
- What is it, in the external world, that inspires me to take action? How will I follow and express that inspiration?
What to do with it when you find it
The things you discover to inspire others don’t have to be overwhelming or grand; in fact, they usually aren’t. They might be as seemingly insignificant as listening better to those around you, becoming more inclusive in your leadership or expressing your heartfelt gratitude for others’ work. These are the things that will matter, even if they seem small. Now infuse them into the lives of those around you. Practice daily with the help of a mentor, coach, or friend, and continuously look for inspiration. Mysteriously, inspiration is a wonderful self-fulfilling cycle; the more you breathe it in, the more you’ll exhale it out to others.
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19 Responses to “How to Inspire Others”
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I agree! I will use your questions in a excercise with my management team.
I really appreciated the definition of inspire that you shared. Inspiration is all around us. I have been breathing in a lot of inspiration from my three-year-old daughter lately. Everything she does is with a positive attitude and she never gives up. It is like giving up is not yet in her vocabulary. She approaches problems from so many different ways and maintains her resilience. When she falls down, she gets back up and tries something different. I think all children behave the same way. And if a three-year-old can do it, then I have no excuse. Thank you for the post.
Jarek, very cool idea.
Ricky, I think children can be very inspirational. Sounds to me like your daughter is a great model for us all.
What a great post. I rather feels like someone is “breathing” some fresh air into you when you’re truly inspired by someone. For me, when I look back at when I’ve been really inspired by someone, it really does feel like you’ve had new life infused in you.
What a beautiful perspective of the idea. For me “inspiration” was just another buzz word pulled for a motivation poster. Viewing inspiration as a physical thing that actually enters a person makes me realize how important it really is. Thanks for the article. I’m gonna try to implement this more.
Mary Jo,
I love your perspective.
Inspiration is the difference between living and “dying alive”. And it’s such a tremendous stimulative to creating lasting change in human behavior. We try so hard to reward with money and awards and titles, when maybe the better plan is to inspire those around us to greatness.
Maybe the change we want so badly is simply a matter of us “breathing” life (passion, intensity, purpose…) into our interactions.
Wonderful thoughts, May Jo!
Dan Waldschmidt
http://www.edgyconversations.com
Another great blog Mary Jo!
Thank you for being such an inspiration to everyone out there! As I read your blogs, I think about myself, my work, and all that I can do to help inspire myself as well as others. I find that some of my greatest inspiration comes from the people and influences around me.
Carina
Sean, it is like having life breathed into you! I think inspiration is a special and rare thing.
Matt, look for things that inspire you. I’m sure you can put your plan into action, and would love to hear what happens.
Dan, what a great inspiration in your statement that “Maybe the change we want so badly is simply a matter of us “breathing” life (passion, intensity, purpose…) into our interactions.”. I’m sure that if we spend more effort finding the things that inspire us, this is possible. I’d love to see this conversation turn to “what inspires you?”.
For me – a good classical ballet, the outdoors, my pug. In the work realm, leaders who work hard to get better at what they do, organizations that support them. How about you?
Carina, you are such a positive force with your blog comments. Thanks for taking my posts to heart and noticing what inspires you! Keep it up!
I found this to be a interesting notion. I have a question though on how to inspire someone who is seemingly unwilling to seek self betterment. I have a coworker who is burnt out and (appears to be trying to get himself fired) he has limited education and skills and is dragging the morale down with him. We have tried to make him feel like he’s a part of the team and to try to show him the importance of his position but to no avail. He seems to think he’s untouchable because of a hiring freeze and we are short in this department as it is… I would like to inspire him but can’t figure out how. Speaking for great leaders what do you suggest? Thanks for the great read!
Garrett, have you asked him what he wants? What would inspire him? Motivate him? What would he like to give to and get from the team? So often we try to guess what people want and – we’re often wrong.
Best wishes!
To get someone to think about inspiration, they first have to see results, then assign a cause to those results. They’ll look at the actions taken that they believe caused the result & assume that it was all on purpose. Then, they’ll have to ask “why” they wanted that. In many cases the alternatives are scary. I think fear is a good motivator that we can’t ignore.
Mary Jo,
Again another great blog. I have never looked up the definition of the word inspire. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, I have to say the definition fits perfectly.
-Mike
Jake, Perhaps I’m interpreting your comments wrong – it seems to me that you are making so many assumptions here that I just don’t know which one to ask about first. So I’ll start here: are you suggesting that fear should be used in place of inspiration to motivate others?
Mike, I’ve always loved that “archaic” definition. It seems so….somatic.
Inspiration is an amazing trait that can help managers get the most from their employees. The point you make about talking the talk and walking the walk is crucial. I have run into many leaders that will describe their views and opinions and act completely different. Having a manager who can positively inspire her employees creates a positive and productive atmosphere. I think the next step is for employees to find the inspiration within themselves and use it to inspire the people around them. This is something for me to think about. I expect a lot from my leaders, but what am I providing in return? Thanks
Hey Mary,
I like your post so much and can learn a lot every time when I read them.
The most important thing is for us that connect internal and external factors to inspire us together. Under this condition, we can work more effectively and happily. Of course, our leadership will be built automatically during this process.
Sachin, What a great statement – that walking the talk is important – and perhaps an inspiration in and of itself because it can be rare. And yes, we can all learn to inspire others, and I love the idea of followers learning to inspire as well. We need inspiration anywhere we can find it!
Patrick, how true that the “connecting” is so important. Thanks!
Very intriguing blog Mary Jo.
“Inspire”, a tag word used so often and seen throughout so many places, but how often do we actually commit to this phrase? When we are able to understand the root of something, we can make better choices and share with others. I love the idea that to inspire is to “breathe life into” someone. When we find something very inspiring, it becomes extremely motivating and infectious. We are all attracted to people that can make us feel as though we can achieve something new.
Jacob, as science is now showing us, emotions are infectious! So your thought that inspiration is infectious is most likely true. I was actually thinking about that as I wrote this post – it makes sense to me that to be inspiring, we must inspire others.
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