How To Inspire People At Work

Let’s start at the beginning. If you are going to inspire other people, first you need to be inspired yourself. This is particularly true if you want to inspire people at work. This is because they will quickly detect whether you are genuine or not. It’s a sad fact of life that they will have come across many managers and leaders saying on thing and doing another. They will ignore your efforts unless you are example of inspired behaviour.

When you are inspired yourself, your inspiration will be contagious. People are drawn to an inspired person so, even if you did nothing else, you would get a positive response from your co-workers. But you can do so much more.

There is a key principle you can use: to become inspired is a choice. No one gets inspired without their consent. This is true for every individual. Realising the implications of this principle is the key to inspiring people at work. You need to use your influence to bring them to the point where they choose to be inspired for themselves.

So what about the practicalities? There are many techniques you can use; here are some of the essentials.

1. Purpose

A worthwhile purpose is a critical factor when inspiring others. For instance, famous leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther-King had a clear purpose to attract and inspire their followers, A clear purpose creates a uniting focus for all involved and it signals the relevance of the work in hand. It also opens the door for greater job satisfaction and a sense of meaning.

2. Optimism

When you are aiming to inspire people at work, you will sometimes need to counter pessimism and negativity. Optimism is not some kind of wishful thinking or pretense. Real optimism is clearly connected to reality and uses a specific structure of thinking. When faced with adversity, the optimist sees the set-back as temporary, of limited impact and non-personal. Even if you are not a natural optimist you can learn this skill, as pioneered by Dr Martin Seligman.

3. Inspiring Language

The words and phrases you use in all your communications, both spoken and written, have the potential to inspire others. For a start, be inclusive by using ‘we’ rather than the lonely ‘I’. Describe your vision for the future with the aim of focusing attention on what you want rather than what is wrong. Choose words that directly appeal to the five senses — visual words (such as look, glimpse, focus); aural words (like whisper, hear, harmony); kinesthetic words (such as feel, grip, hold, touch). When speaking use the volume, pace and tone of your voice to convey your enthusiasm.

4. Show Appreciation

When you give another person your focused attention, even for a short time, you exert a powerful influence. When this attention is appreciative, especially if repeated over time, it can be truly inspiring. Appreciation can vary from a simple ‘thank you’ through to prizes and awards. It also covers respect, sensitivity and encouragement.

As you use these techniques, watch for the results you get. Use them as feedback to adjust your approach if necessary. And remember to keep inspired yourself!

To this end, I leave you with the words of actress Mae West-

“ You only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough!”