What is Inspired Leadership?

So, what is inspired leadership, anyway? This is a question I've been holding for the past ten years.

When I started my business in 2011, I was on a mission to change leadership in some way.

Coaching was the first tool I added to my toolbox.

And it has forever changed me as a person. It changed the way I lead. And it changed the way I think about leadership.

Since then I've been on a quest to understand what makes an inspired leader.

And where I've landed is…in my now-current definition of inspired leadership.

Here's what I think an inspired leader is—or the attributes of an inspired leader.

First and foremost, an inspired leader knows themselves. So: self-awareness. Self-awareness in so many ways.

What motivates you? What are your core values? What are your strengths? What do you naturally bring in the way you think, and operate and behave in the world?

Also, what strengths you don't possess is part of that self-awareness.

And practicing resilience for yourself. Making your wellbeing a priority. Taking care of yourself—physically, mentally and emotionally.

That is job number one of being an inspired leader, is to really know yourself and care for yourself.

And from there—what I believe now after this ten-year journey—is that when we're willing to really embrace who we are, and take care of ourselves, then we have the capacity and the ability to show up fully for others.

It's like we take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others.

And the way we, as leaders, care for others is by coaching.

Being a leader who embraces a coaching mindset. A growth mindset. And uses skills and frameworks that really empower people to discover their strengths, to discover their why, to understand what's getting in their way.

A coaching leader will create the space for those conversations, number one.

And then they'll sit in those conversations from a curious, supportive place, which is a different mindset than coming in with a mindset of judgment or knowing or telling.

So inspired leaders know themselves deeply.

They're willing to show up for others as a coaching leader.

And then I want to layer on: an inspired leader is looking at the full picture.

They're looking at the culture of the team.

They're paying attention to the way the team is working together. They're adapting their leadership for hybrid teams, for new ways of working, and they're open to change.

They're open to doing things differently and co-creating that new reality together with their team.

It's a lot about letting go of control. Letting go of the command-and-control style of leadership that is just so…over, and so irrelevant to leading in the context we're leading in now.

So this is where I've landed about what it means to be an inspired leader: To know thyself. To show up for others. And to use coaching as the way to do that.

And to think about culture and to think about team in a co-creative open, willing-to-change context.

If this speaks to you in any way, then I hope you'll check out our Inspired Leadership Signature Program.

Once I got clear on what inspired leadership means, I wanted to create more inspired leaders. And the way I'm doing that is through our signature program.

It's an immersive, incredible program that will help you understand yourself.

It will equip you with coaching skills.

And it will help you embrace culture and co-creative teamwork as the way forward.

You belong here.