When was the last time you were truly inspired by someone that you worked with?
It’s an important question that requires a bit of reflection. At Corporate Path Leadership, we find that people are frequently inspired by an article or book they have read, a movie or television show recently seen, or interactions with friends/acquaintances outside of the workplace. When it comes to the workplace, however, the few mentions of inspiration are associated with an event or conference away from the office, and with a new group of people.
So why isn’t there a bigger focus on inspiration on an on-going basis in the traditional office environment?
For many reasons, this topic of inspiration is something that falls on the shoulders of a leader. It’s their job to “make inspiration happen.” Yet for leaders, their time is often spent thinking about the challenges their teams/departments face and how their employees are often the cause of those challenges. It’s tough to find inspiration in that mindset.
The question and challenge we pose for not just team leaders, but anyone working on a team is this:
“What if inspiration wasn’t something that had to be a big initiative, but was a simple goal to provide an uplift for a team on a weekly basis?”
Here are a few ways to add some regular inspiration for your team:
#1 – CREATE SOME FOCUS
Everyone faces urgency — too many projects to accomplish and not enough time. Sometimes a leader or a colleague checking in and seeing how they can help alleviate some pressure can provide huge momentum in a team member’s week.
How to do this successfully:
- Ask team members where they are getting bogged down in projects.
- Ask them which projects are the most important from a team or strategic perspective.
- Talk with them about how they might postpone projects or actions that might get in the way of them completing the most important projects.
Imagine the productivity benefits for the team, and the inspiration that you can provide by taking this small step with each team member this week.
#2 – PERSONALLY RECOGNIZE GOOD WORK BY A TEAM MEMBER
Too often, we think of awards for team members. Something that can be celebrated in a crowd or part of a big event. Sometimes the bigger inspiration comes from a simple personal conversation from a leader or colleague who is recognizing that we are doing great work. Note: it is important to recognize the meaning and value of the work itself and not just that the person is working hard; (there is a difference).
How to do this successfully:
- Have a personal conversation with the team member just to tell them about a specific good work recognition – including why it matters and what it is doing for the organization. Use this conversation to help them connect the dots to the work they are doing and how the company or team is benefiting from that work.
- Where possible, share this news of good work in team meetings, via email, or other internal platforms.
#3 – SHARE STRATEGIC OR INSPIRING NEWS – NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SMALL
Whether you are a leader of a team, or a team member, you are likely to hear about good news from other departments or more strategic news about the company itself. Too often, this type of news is not directly shared with the rest of the team. While sometimes there is sensitive information that cannot be widely shared, there is almost always some “nugget” of information that is safe for sharing.
How to do this successfully:
- Share a nugget of leadership that you are seeing within your own company with your commentary on why this information is important. This could be something that another team is doing, or something directly from other leaders in the company.
- Highlight an article that you found inspirational with your team. Be sure to note why it inspired you and how it can relate back to the team.
- In either case, you can ask team members to catch you in the hall or email you back if they have any thoughts or ideas on how the inspiration could impact the team.
#4 – REGULARLY ASK YOUR COLLEAGUES FOR THEIR OWN INSPIRATIONAL IDEAS
Setting an attitude of inspiration, and the importance of including that mindset in their routine, can help team members be more mindful of how they can be doing their best for the team. While some people think that only leaders can offer inspiration, true inspiration can happen in small ways, even on a daily basis. That inspiration just needs sharing encouragement.
Ask your team to think about how they’ve been inspired by others in the organization. This could be how a team member successfully handled an interaction with a customer, how they went out of the way to meet a deadline, the way they approach a challenge, or even just kind words and an offer of help in a stressful situation.
How to do this successfully:
- Use your team meetings to ask for an example of someone in the company who inspires them or something that took place.
- Share some of these insights with the team as part of meeting recaps and highlight larger inspiration moments with other teams, and through other internal communication vehicles.
Takeaways
The key lesson here is to make sure you think about the importance of inspiring your colleagues in the new year. You don’t have to put all of these practices to work each week, but set an initial goal of having at least 2-3 inspirational activities each month to add enthusiasm to your team and your team’s culture.