“Can you truly inspire people to follow you if you don’t believe in something bigger than self?”
This question was posed to me and Tobey Deys by my friend Mack Collier during this week’s Leadership Chat, at which we focused on blazing our own leadership trails while ensuring these new trails are meant for – and right for – us.
I don’t think you can answer Mack’s question without further asking yourself:
- What does it take for a leader to really inspire another person?
- Can you believe in something larger than self if you don’t yet believe in yourself?
- How important is it to believe in yourself if you want to inspire teams, followers and organizations?
The Pythagorean Theorem
Just as the Pythagorean Theorem says A squared + B squared = C squared, do you need to (A) believe in yourself + (B) believe in something bigger; in a higher purpose, in order to = (C) inspire others?
I think you do.
Now, do I think you can lead someone from point A to point B without believing in yourself? Yes. Can you lead someone from point A to point B without believing in a higher purpose? Yes, I think you can.
The real crux of the question is the word, “inspire.” I think to inspire followers, teams, and organizations you need the whole equation at work.
The Critical Nature of Believing in Yourself
Think about the people who genuinely inspire you as leaders. Pick out maybe the top two or three and hold a picture of them in your mind.
Do you think they believe in themselves? I know the three people in my mind’s eye do. Could they inspire you the way they do if they didn’t believe in who they are as individuals? I doubt it.
Think about their energy, the way they relate to you and to others, the way they tell stories that are important to them and how they define themselves.
Leaders who don’t believe in themselves send out an entirely different level of energy than those who do. They relate to others from a place of insecurity, they tell stories that may not always ring true or resonate, and they simply define themselves differently – you can sense this.
If you want to inspire followers, teams and organizations it is critical that you start by believing in yourself.
The Power of Believing in Something Bigger
This is not only what truly great companies do; this is what truly great leaders do.
Think again of those three people who genuinely inspire you. Can you name right off the top of your head what it is that they are passionate about…something that is bigger than them that excites them and that they are wholly committed to?
My guess is that you can, because it’s their energy and passion for this higher purpose that you probably connected with in the first place.
Inspiring Others
This leads us to C squared… By believing in yourself and by exuding energy and passion for a bigger, higher purpose, you ignite in others the desire to know you better, to understand your vision, and ultimately to follow you.
So, Mack, I believe the answer to your question is no, not if you truly want to inspire as a leader.
What do all of you think?
~
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You can find me on Twitter at @LisaPetrilli and on LinkedIn. To hire me for Visionary Leadership programs, Magnetic Marketing Consulting or for the Social Media Concierge program, email me at Lisa@CLevelStrategies.com.
Photo is Follow Me! Iron Mike by ExpertInfantry.
17 Response Comments
Thank you Lisa, as I love your thoughts here. My thinking when asking that was could a ‘leader’ inspire others to achieve something that solely benefits the leader? I think it’s possible, especially for a short period of time.
But over the long-term, I think people are inspired by being a part of something bigger than themselves. And in having a sense or shared ownership in creating something bigger than themselves. Which I also think is the definition of a community.
I loved the discussion at #LeadershipChat this week, and I encourage everyone to join the chat every Tuesday night at 8pm EST, 7pm CT 😉
Thank you, Mack and I appreciate your perspective on thinking about this from a short term vs. long term perspective. Also, love your thoughts on how this ties into the definition of community. I can see how a leader’s inspiration could help create a community of followers… Interesting!
And thank you so much for recommending #LeadershipChat – we always enjoy it when you’re able to join us!
Hi Lisa,
Can’t believe this is my first time commenting on your blog! You are spot on with your answer. Inspired leaders rely on that which calls them forward to have clarity in direction and purpose. And to be truly called forward is to have purpose outside ourselves.
Speaking of clarity, your post is chock full of it.
Shawn
Thank you so much, Shawn – for the very kind words and for being here and commenting. I sincerely appreciate it and am honored to be a part of the Lead Change community with you.
And, I couldn’t agree with you more in regard to clarity of direction and purpose – thrilled to know we think alike! All the best and thank you, again, for being here and sharing your insights.
Thought provoking Lisa. Think I will have to join in on a #LeadershipChat in the near future.
There is a paradox I think may be worth exploring with respect to what “believing in yourself” means. Confidence and self doubt can somehow coexist. The bolder our vision the more likely we will extend ourselves into the realm of self doubt on occasion. So believing in ourselves isn’t necessarily equal to total self confidence, but rather the belief that we will learn what we need to learn and the never give up attitude that will power us through he dark times of self doubt. The courage to transcend our self doubt can in and of itself be a source of inspiration.
FYI, what provoked this line of thinking is that last night I started reading Do the Work by Steven Pressfield – his free e-book that is a prelude to his book War of Art.
Thank you, Susan – and we’d be thrilled to have you join us.
I agree with you that confidence and self-doubt in regard to one’s current vision may co-exist, but I believe that inspirational leaders have an intrinsic belief in self, in their self-worth, and in who they are as individuals that remains solid.
It may just be semantics, and it would make for a wonderful live discussion at some point! 🙂 All the best and honored to have you stop by and share your insights!
Lisa–
Congrats on one year of blogging! What a milestone.
Love how you use basic geometry to get us to think about ourselves and our leadership qualities. Your three points are spot on. It’s a great analogy for showing that the parts working together are stronger than any one of them separately.
Hope to be able to catch more of the conversation on LeadershipChat soon.
Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen
Thank you so much, Heidi – your support this year has meant the world to me! Steve and I would be honored to have you join us more often in Leadership Chat; we appreciate how you share your wealth of knowledge so freely! All the very best and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Lisa
If I think about bosses or mentors that I loved, they all had one thing in common. They cared less about their ego and more about the welfare of their workers. A person that cares about your performance but let’s you know they care about you personally.
I believe that business is 100% personal
Ellen,
Such a beautiful point – and I couldn’t agree with you more. Business is personal because it’s entirely built on relationships. Thank you so much for adding such a beautiful insight and taking the time to share – I sincerely appreciate it!
Lisa
This something bigger, for me, is predicated on the leader’s ability to differentiate between leading and inspiring. In order to inspire, there must reside within the leader a sense of confidence that will allow for him or her to act selflessly without being encumbered by the worry of “bad press”; an understanding that inspiration results when one nurtures and puts into practice a belief that every decision they make must be grounded in benefiting the “common good” rather than the individual.
All businesses are context driven and the power relationships within them are personally and professionally rewarding if the leader understands that his/her leadership always has a significance beyond the immediacy of any particular situation; that any decision must consider and validate the goals, values, interests of the collective. In doing this, decisions can become galvanizing statements.
Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi write about this higher purpose or common good in their recent HBR article, “The Wise Leader”:
“CEOs need to ask if decisions are good for society as well as for their companies; management must serve a higher purpose . . .creating social as well as economic value.”
Thanks for the post – a perfect start to my week
Gino,
I think you’re right – the inspiration is one level above the leading simply from point A to point B. And I love how you talk about context. I was in a meeting with a number of CEOs yesterday who are part of the CEO Connection and context was discussed a lot in regard to communication – which is one of the most important roles of a leader.
Thank you for sharing with me the nugget from the HBR article, and I genuinely appreciate your kind words. All the very best!
Lisa,
Your post, Susan’s point about the paradoxical coexistence of confidence and doubt, coupled with Mac’s comment regarding short-term follower inspiration for the leader’s benefit versus shared ownership really got my wheels turning.
Regarding self-confidence, highly precise profile assessments used for 75 years (99.9% confidence level or correlation of p<.05 to <.001) show that only 2/3 of people have somewhat low intrinsic belief in self or what we know as self-esteem. There is an interesting and delicate balance. Those with very high self-esteem lack drive to improve and are often not coachable. Those with very low self-esteem may manifest as ego-driven leaders who use adoring followers to self-medicate their ego need.
Lisa, this post and all of the comments are a great example of the richness of community and how few things (especially leadership) are simple. It made me ponder whether belief in a higher purpose (in alignment with one's own values independent of self-esteem) wasn't even more vital to fueling the confidence needed to inspire oneself and others. Hiring leaders whose values are aligned with the cultural values, mission and vision is likely to drive confidence and altruistic leadership…provided the corporate values are real and not fabricated.
Jeanne, I’m thrilled to know it got you thinking…what an honor! And I couldn’t agree with you more…I am blessed with a rich community of insightful and passionate leaders. Thank you for sharing this data and for adding great texture to our conversation tapestry, I sincerely appreciate it!
Lisa,
I think it’s an organic never ending evolutionary flow. There is no beginning or end. I think true authentic leadership has to come from within while coexisting with a larger purpose. There is no separation in my eyes.. leadership to me it to transcend and include our value. To go beyond, not just to master but to share. That’s not always an easy thing to do when we are faced with the ego stuff that comes along with it, and our minds which play games with us. A teacher once told me that to deny my “self worth” and power would throw a monkey wrench into the larger purpose of why I’m on the planet. I believe we’re here for a reason, to grow – to master our shortcomings – to share our value toward something much bigger than ourselves. To do less…. is to deny the world of any small moment of our individual brilliance that could impact the world in a flash.
Judy,
You are such a beautiful gift to all of us in this community – your comment is so eloquently said. Thank you for the brilliance that you share so generously with the world!