As we prepare for our upcoming 2-Day Advanced District Managers Leadership workshop, I cannot help but think about the question that I am continually asked in regards to getting an entire store or region to do exactly what they are supposed to be doing with commitment and passion. I’m committed to helping people succeed and feel good about what they do in this industry and I truly believe that there are 3 things that are critical to inspirational leadership.
Here is the first and I’ll talk about the next two in my upcoming blogs in the weeks ahead.
Great leaders must have rational attributes, which are the skills to do the job. They must have strong organizational skills, communication skills, selling skills, coaching skills, priority management skills, talent development skills and many more. You get the picture.
However, inspirational leaders who get continual performance out of their people also have emotional attributes. This is “how” they make people FEEL! They touch on the ‘Limbic’ part of the brain. Without getting too scientific, the limbic part of the brain controls emotions. Great leaders touch on people’s emotions. They inspire them to WANT to do a great job.
They do this by staying focused on purpose and the ‘WHY’ not the ‘WHAT’ of what has to be done. (I’ll expand on this in my next blog)
Ask yourself:
- Do your people feel like they are making a difference?
- Do your people have a desire to see others succeed in your organization?
- Are they motivated by satisfying their customer’s needs?
- Do they look for solutions rather than problems?
- Do they love coming to work?
Training and development on all the rational skills is absolutely critical to any leader’s success as they need to be competent. However, the real question you need to answer is “How are you making your people ‘FEEL’ everyday?”
