Admiring great leaders may sometimes make leadership a challenging mission. These leaders may have set an excellent standard that seems impossible within your reach; thus, making you doubt your leadership capacity. Other times, your past failures may be the blockage holding you from showing inspiring leadership to your team. However it may be, you too can lead. You can break free from the shackles of limitation, self-pity, doubt, and past failure to become the greatest leader your generation, society, company had ever seen.

Leadership may be a theme that you dread so much because of the high expectations and responsibility that come along with it. However, whether you are not yet a leader, or you are not yet the leader you dream of, or you are already a great leader you can become better through inspiring leadership. You can become the example and motivation for thousands of people through your actions, words, and character.

What is Leadership?

It is not surprising that most people confuse leadership with a title. For example, the CEO of a company is seen more as a leader than the sales representative. This is a wrong way of viewing leadership because it is not about a position, it is not a popularity contest, it is not about doing everything yourself, it is not about yourself. Instead, leadership is a rare and precious quality. It is the art of motivating a group of people to take action to achieve a common goal. It is a character that you possess that distinguishes you from everyone else.

One of the most outstanding leaders that have ever graced the earth, in the person of Jesus Christ, gave an illustration of what leadership is. On a certain day, his followers were having disputes and contending about who was the greatest among them. Jesus interrupted the argument and gave his thought on leadership. His concept of inspiring leadership is about service to others and not yourself.

The kings and men of authority in this world rule oppressively over their subjects, claiming that they do it for the good of the people. They are obsessed with how others see them. But this is not your calling. You will lead by a different model. The greatest one among you will live as one called to serve others without honor. The greatest honor and authority is reserved for the one who has a servant’s heart. The leaders who are served are the most important in your eyes, but in the kingdom, it is the servants who lead (Luke 22:25-27 TPT).

Overcoming Leadership Barriers

Sometimes it is impossible to see yourself providing inspiring leadership, or you find it hard to believe in your abilities. This is because of the certain barriers that had formed over time in your mindset, which can become a stumbling block on your way to inspiring leadership. Here are some of the ways to overcome these leadership barriers;

Doubt and Negative Thoughts: One of the greatest barriers that prevent inspiring leadership is doubting yourself. It kills not only your aspirations but also your confidence. For example, when you stop believing that you can speak publicly, the day you will have the opportunity to address the public, you will eventually find yourself stuttering. Again, this is because you have lost confidence in yourself. The same principle applies if you want to become an inspiring leader overcome doubt and negative thoughts. One of the best ways to overcome it is to speak positively about yourself.

Lack of Vision: This is another barrier that has limited many potential leaders from reaching the highest pinnacle of leadership (inspiring leadership). Vision is all about having a picture of the future in your mind. Great leaders have a vision of themselves, families, businesses, and other organizations. One of the greatest leaders who provided inspiring leadership to the American citizens, Theodore Roosevelt, once said that vision is seeing what others can not see.

Lack of Action: People dream of great success a lot of time, but they sleep on their couch doing nothing about it. However, great leaders like Moses faced with an impossible situation like crossing the red sea became great because they took action. When you begin to give excuses on how big the task is and how you can never achieve it, you notice little zeal for taking action. So, quit the laziness or stop being overwhelmed by responsibility and take action.

How to Provide Inspiring Leadership

Here are some of the step by step methods on how to provide inspiring leadership;

• Become what you’d like to see in others: Being a leader means leading by example. If you don’t practice what you preach, no one will take you seriously. It starts with following the rules you’d want everyone to follow. If there is certain behavior that you would like to encourage, then start by acting it at every opportunity, even if others don’t see you.
• Respect everyone you meet: As a leader, you will contact many people, some with whom you will have nothing in common. Therefore, consider everyone’s contributions and consider interesting things to say. If you respect others, they will be more likely to respect you in return. Your body language is also an important asset; remember to smile and keep some eye contact when chatting.
• Be open to change: The world is changing, and so are your responsibilities. Do not keep the same routines if you notice outdated or no longer respond to the current situation. For example, if you notice that you lack certain skills, keep some time to get up to speed and better meet the needs of the people in your group.
• Take responsibility for your actions: If you make a mistake, acknowledge it. You will be more likely to be respected if you take responsibility for your mistakes and indicate how you will correct the problem in the future. Of course, it would help if you also kept a positive attitude, even when tough times.
• Get into the habit of knowing the people around you: If you are part of a new group, then take some time to know some aspects of each other’s lives. Invite them to talk about what they like to do, about their passions. Then, actively listen to what you are told without anticipating the discussion or interrupting to give your opinion. Only by working to understand the point of view of others will they make the same effort to understand you.
• Thank everyone for their work: Just as it’s important to treat others with respect, it’s just as important to recognize everyone’s effort. If one of your employees has expectedly performed their tasks, appreciate them. Everyone loves compliments, and that can only encourage them to do even better.
• Learn to delegate: Also, make sure to delegate tasks to your group, don’t do everything by yourself. Rather than doing everything, empower others by giving them work that suits their skills. On the one hand, it will show them that you trust them, but also it will free up time for you to do more important things for you.

In conclusion, inspiring leadership is something you can become regardless of your stages of leadership. Whether you are already in a leadership position or want to become one in the future, you must already consider yourself as such. To achieve this, it is important to learn from other leaders and develop the skills that will make you a trusted person.