Keeping the fire within you

I have a question for you. What is the best gift a leader can give to his or her people? And what is the most important thing a good leader can provide for the team?

I ask this question a lot of times in my Level Up Leadership workshop and there will be several brilliant answers that would come. Some would say inspiration, others would say time, I would hear answers like mentorship, others would say career growth or opportunities for promotions.

Perhaps my question is too vague, but in the interest of context and space provided here, the best gift any leader can give his or her people is ENERGY.

Yes, that is right. When the energy is there, the attention is present. The focus is channeled, and the team is inspired because they can sense the pathos, the dedication, and they know their leader cares.

There are different kinds of leaders out there. There are the almost-near-retirement leaders who do not want to rock the boat, who wants everything safe, and they stifle the creative energy of their team. They become risk-averse and their battle cry is: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

While the phrase may carry a little logic here the underlying motive that is unsaid is, “I’m leaving soon, do not touch what I have built over the years… even though the unbroken things are not broken but may be going out of existence.” This zaps the energy out of the people and leave them demotivated.

Others are just plain apathetic and are just there for the paycheck even though they are light years away from retirement. This is not good. Laziness is infectious; complacency is cancer, and good people leave in search of bigger and better challenges because they cannot stand stagnancy.

Now it is easier to get into the case of leaders who have lost their energy, but why not do something productive this time and try to revive the spark and the fire of leaders who have lost their drive?

Let me do just that and offer a few ideas on how to bring that fire back to the heart and soul of the leaders:

1. REMEMBER YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS A LEADER.

You need to keep the fire burning in your people because that is your job. You don’t abandon your post. Do not forget that leadership begins with you but it’s not about you. Your people are working hard and they may be making sacrifices, so you need to discover creative ways to be inspired yourself so that you can keep your people’s fire burning.

2. FUEL THE MIND WITH INSPIRING IDEAS.

The leader’s job is never easy. Many people want to be leaders because they are focused on the perks of leadership, but they fail to understand the price of leadership. Leaders need to inspire their people, but they need to be inspired too. Read books and watch videos. Todd Henry calls this: “communing with great minds.” Expose yourself to great insights; learn the mistakes made and how others bounced back. This provides the courage and the energy to fuel the spark of creativity and imagination to make things happen.

3. SHARE YOUR RESOURCES WITH YOUR TEAM.

Do not keep good things to yourself. Share those videos, clips, audio, books, articles that have inspired you, so you can inspire them too. One thing I have discovered is that every time I share an idea that can help others I get inspired to do more.

4. VALUE THE POWER OF REST AND RECOVERY.

In fairness to leaders who are not slackening and are working too hard, burnout is a very real thing. Good leaders know how to manage their mental energy and they take good care of their physical bodies too. They get enough sleep, they know how to enjoy leisure and they refuse the temptation to focus too much on work and neglect relationship with their family. Even machines wear down with constant use and lack of preventive maintenance work. Here is a reality – leaders are not machines.

5. UNDERSTAND THE CORE OF YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE.

This is the part when I talk about the “purpose” and “meaning” of your role as a leader. And as I say in my Level Up Leadership seminars: “Leadership is important because our people will forget what we have accomplished for ourselves, but our people will never forget what we have done for them.” Connect with your people in a deeper way, engage them and show genuine care and concern, celebrate their success and feel their pains and struggles and help them through difficult situations.

This is your “why” of leadership. This is what inspires you so that you have the energy you can give your team. Believe me, this is what makes you alive and this is what gives you the spark to move brilliantly and creatively.

There are leaders who have made, shaped and formed their people to become worse people today and there are good leaders who have helped shaped the character of their people and this is why today they move with honor and dignity as the people they lead have become better and are now leading others.

Be inspired so you can inspire others. It always works this way.

(John Maxwell and Ken Blanchard’s accredited industry practitioners and subject matter experts join Francis Kong in an afternoon conference entitled “leadership excellence -the winning edge!” On March 2 at City Club at Alphaland Makati. For registration and inquiries contact Jacque at 0999 7283971 or Mary at 0917 8173736 or call Inspire-UN Leadership Consultancy Inc. 777 6038)