Inspirational leadership for CEOs: key traits that inspire growth

Chances are that before becoming a CEO, you’ve encountered at least one leader in your career with an infectious passion for their work and an equal desire to nurture talent in others. Working for someone who provides that level of inspirational leadership was exciting and rewarding.

Indeed, those types of leaders are often said to be born with a natural gift, but with the right intentions and strategies, you can develop the skill set too.

“An inspirational leader is someone who keeps their organisation and their constituents motivated to be supportive,” says Adam Hartung, managing partner at SparkPartners in Napa, California. “An inspirational leader will have employees who are supportive of the organisation. They also have suppliers who are supportive of the organisation. They have customers who support the organisation, and they have a community that supports the organisation.”

True inspirational leaders ignite a powerful chain reaction. By championing initiatives that reflect genuine values, they spark passion and purpose throughout their teams.

What is inspirational leadership?

Inspirational leadership is the ability to motivate, energise and empower those around you by creating a shared vision of success and fostering a workplace culture where people thrive.

“Inspirational leadership goes beyond factors and figures, it creates a compelling vision,” says Chris Westfall, president and CEO of Westfall and Associates LLC in Houston. “When a vision is compelling, it inspires action.”

Westfall adds that inspirational leadership doesn’t inform or teach; it captures people’s hearts and gets them to go beyond understanding and implementing the vision. To do so, leaders actively seek out and listen to feedback, incorporate feedback where possible, and make the team feel included.

Unlike other control-based leadership styles, inspirational leadership is shared throughout the organisation. While CEOs sometimes must specify exactly what must be done, simply distributing edicts is a strategy that is falling out of favour and being replaced with a shared decision-making approach.

“An inspirational leader is someone who leads with their heads, hearts and hands to take a humanistic approach to leadership, especially when leading change,” says Barbara Trautlein, principal of Change Catalysts, LLC in Vernon Hills, Illinois. “It is a powerful combination of strategy and vision, plus ensuring we have the necessary resources and processes, plus intentionally engaging in a way that brings people along.”

Why inspirational leadership matters for CEOs

When CEOs share leadership across the organisation, their teams perform better, report higher employee engagement levels, and ultimately, experience greater business growth.

“Creating a culture where people feel they can get their voice heard without fear of repercussion, vilification or negative repercussions is not just a nice thing to do. It’s a bottom-line business imperative,” says Trautlein.

Inspirational leadership is a business imperative because it:

• Impacts employee motivation and engagement: Employees who feel valued and heard are more motivated and committed to an organisation. Feeling “overlooked” or ignored ranks as a top reason people leave organisations, which hurts retention and drives up hiring costs.
• Contributes to a positive company culture: Studies have shown that organisations with a positive company culture enjoy higher annual revenues.
• Drives business growth and innovation: Teams with inspirational leaders may have a higher chance of achieving and surpassing goals. They are passionate about their work and ensure their values align with the team while encouraging those around them to regularly set and achieve goals.

5 key traits of inspirational leaders

Understanding the traits of inspirational leaders is essential for identifying which skills to focus on to develop yourself. Here are five traits inspirational leaders share.

1. Growth-minded outlook

Inspirational leaders see opportunities, encourage growth, and think outside the box. Professional development is just one part of growth. Hartung notes that it extends to multiple strategies that recognise what is important to today’s workforce, such as offering flexibility like working from home and job sharing.

2. Vision setting and strategic thinking abilities

CEOs must be able to define where the organisation is going and why it exists so that all levels of employees have guidance to turn to when making decisions. Inspirational leaders will look beyond the business and within their broader team to consider wide-ranging perspectives and seek input on a vision and strategic plan before implementing them.

3. Empathy and emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is equally (if not more) important than IQ and expertise for being seen as a leader people want to follow. Inspirational leaders invest in developing these skills and have what Trautlein coined Change Intelligence® (CQ®).

“Change is the only constant, and to lead ourselves and others successfully through change, we need to take a very humanistic approach,” Trautlein says.

4. Communication skills and transparency

Hartung points out that it’s a myth that individuals must be good speakers to be inspirational leaders. Being transparent and keeping people informed is essential, but other forms of communication also contribute to being an inspirational leader.

“They demonstrate what’s important in their daily activities by taking care of customers and suppliers,” he says. “If you’re lucky enough to have a good mind-mouth connection, that’s great, but it’s not the only way to be an inspirational leader.”

Hartung uses the founder of Whole Foods, John Mackey, as an example. While Mackey isn’t the strongest speaker, he has been highly effective at inspiring an entire organisation, supplier base, and community to achieve remarkable organisational growth and success.

5. Authenticity and integrity

Trust is central to effective leadership. This applies to employees, suppliers, customers, and investors. Inspirational leaders cultivate trust with both internal and external stakeholders through authenticity and integrity.

Practical strategies for developing inspirational leadership skills

Becoming an inspirational leader requires a willingness to embrace new strategies. These three approaches can help you get started:

1. Set a clear, compelling vision

Hartung suggests dedicating time to defining a clear and compelling vision by looking outside the organisation.

“That seems paradoxical because for years, education programs, MBA courses, and books have focused on looking inside the company and understanding its core to maximise it,” he says. “If we look at inspirational leaders who add value to the company for their investors and stakeholders, they spend a lot of time looking outward and identifying opportunities.”

He uses AI as an example. Company leaders who create excitement, inspiration and organisational health look at AI from the standpoint of how it can open new markets, lead new client services, or improve relationships with suppliers rather than cutting back on staff to cut costs.

2. Encourage open communication and feedback

Experts regularly encourage leaders to create a culture that values open communication and feedback. This not only helps build trust but can also influence how likely people are to act on a leader’s vision.

“There was a watershed study that found leaders who provide reasons for their actions and choices are up to 94% more compelling and persuasive,” Westfall says.

Effective communication and feedback are vital for delivering messages that encourage action from those you lead.

3. Look inward

Self-reflection is a critical strategy for individuals committed to developing inspirational leadership skills. Trautlein shares a credit union CEO client experience as an example. The CEO approached Trautlein with a bold, inspirational vision to modernize their banking technology. Credit unions are mission-driven — a very high-heart culture — versus traditional banks, which often focus more exclusively on the bottom line and are high-head cultures.

“Most of the leadership team was very high heart, while she was very high head, and this misalignment was preventing positive change,” Trautlein explains. “We helped her adapt her approach so the team could understand how the change would further the mission.”

They implemented a comprehensive training program, from the CEO to tellers, focusing on collaborative communication and change management to help everyone understand how the technology could enhance their work while maintaining their member-focused values.

“They launched in February 2020, and then the pandemic hit,” Trautlein says. Despite the challenges, by the end of 2020, their financial and employee engagement results showed the organisation was stronger both financially and culturally, thanks to a collaborative effort at all levels.

Can inspirational leadership backfire?

In short, yes. Specific situations and emergencies require decisiveness, directness, and clear directions. Clear instructions help prevent confusion and even panic in these scenarios.

“However, it’s essential to have established a culture that prioritises inclusion in decision-making so that when the time comes for more direct, controlled leadership, employees don’t view the actions as simply ‘barking orders,’” Westfall says.

For most people, change is uncomfortable, and when they struggle, leaders often equate hesitancy to resistance. To be successful, inspirational leaders must comprehend that the key to addressing resistance is understanding how people are wired.

“Fear is what creates resistance to change,” he adds. “Inspirational leaders know that uncertainty surrounds us and are able to take a point of view that encourages and inspires people to see the possibilities.”

He recommends reading Livewired by David Eagleman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University who hosted a PBS show in 2015 called The Brain. “It is the most inspirational book I’ve read in the last 10 years and looks at resilience, not from the standpoint of trying to uplift them, but the science behind resilience in the human operating system and how it is built into our DNA.”

Trautlein agrees that inspirational leaders approach “resistance” differently. Instead of seeing individuals as negative complainers and getting defensive about questions, she recommends leaders alter their mindsets.

“There’s gold in there when people are asking questions or demonstrating resistance,” she says. “Reframing resistance from an enemy to an ally allows you to leverage it as a powerful source of information. That’s vital for you as a leader because it gives you a chance to get under the hood and understand their concerns or the information and resources that might be missing.”

CEOs must navigate many challenges in today’s business climate. Leaders who can develop the skills and employ strategies associated with inspirational leadership will experience greater employee engagement, increased creativity, and improved bottom-line results.

“If you wish to inspire, don’t fall into the trap that because you have a certain title or certain size to your office, you’re the only expert,” Westfall says. “Remember, it is your job to show up with your expertise to activate everyone else’s expertise.”

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Change Intelligence® and CQ® are registered trademarks of Barbara A. Trautlein, PhD. All rights reserved. This article was originally published on Vistage Research Center.