London 2012’s vision is to ‘inspire a generation’. How inspiring are you as a leader?

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When the London 2012 delegation travelled to Singapore in 2005 to bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the vision to use the power of the Games to inspire lasting change was laid out. From that emerged the strap line ‘Inspire a generation’.

The 2012 Website clearly lays out its vision and strategy to inspire and only time will tell if reality matches the vision. However, the words ‘inspire’ and ‘inspiration’ are bandied about so much that after a while their meaning can become diluted. So what does inspire actually mean? How inspiring are you? And what can you do inspire your team?

First a definition from google:

Inspire (verb)

  • Fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative: ‘his enthusiasm inspired them’.
  • Create (a feeling, esp. a positive one) in a person: ‘inspire confidence’.

So what does this mean for you?

  • To inspire others is a call to action. It’s more than just intent it’s about creating the traction to act. So as a leader, are you inspiring your team to take action, to do what’s required to be the best they can be? Do your words, deeds and behaviour create momentum in those who follow you to feel motivated to take a course of action/raise their performance?
  • Going public and telling others is a way of being held accountable, to honour the commitment. Otherwise it’s all too easy to let ourselves off the hook. Do you hold your team memberss accountable or do you let them off the hook? Do you favour some team members over others or are you even-handed? Do they trust you?
  • In your dealings with others, do you inspire or do you discourage and cause disengagement? Do you focus too much on what’s not working as opposed to what is and blame your team members for failure or coming up short? Or do you consistentlye support them – setting them up to succeed rather instead of failing?

Put simply, are you a ‘zapper’ or a ‘sapper’? Do you radiate energy or do you drain it?

Finally, on a scale of 1-10, how inspiring are you? Be honest with yourself. What will you do to crank your score up a couple of notches?

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