Step 3 to Engagement - Inspiration
Continuing on from my earlier post about the 4 steps to engagement I want to discuss inspiration. Here are the links to the posts on attraction and motivation.
So how do you inspire people. Well this is achieved through communication and a lot of my work both via telephone coaching and in business centres around the development of these skills. But here are 10 tips on how you can inspire people
- Have a clear vision for what your company is trying to achieve.
- Do not change this vision regularly - if you having to do that, then it is the leaders that need to change!
- Translate the company vision to the team - ensure that your function, team, people know how they can help the company achieve success.
- Translate the the vision to each individual in your team.
- Use simple words - think aim, goal, objectives not vision, strategy.
- Explain how the individual will benefit from helping the company achieve its "goal"
- Remember that communication includes speaking, decisions, fairness, how you live the words.
- Use emotions both in words and in actions. Ask people how they "feel" about their role, "see" their role. Tell emotional stories that show how success will feel, how success touches on people's lives, how your product/service has changed a customers life.
- Repeat, repeat, repeat. Repeating the message in everything you do. Before you make a decision check it fits in with the values and vision.
- Celebrate success. Highlight great work, highlight people who were willing to try - even if they fail.
The key to inspiration is seeing the person not the role. You have to connect to the individual, by understanding their strengths, understanding their motivation, understanding what they need from you, understanding what is happening outside work for them, understanding what their personal goals are....
Understanding and linking in to the individual motivators will show that you value them, that is the essence of inspiring people. And a key phrase to use is "I believe in you, and I know that together we can achieve this"
