How do leaders inspire?

I had always asked the question of about how the leaders are able to inspire others to follow him, what is it that the world leaders like Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King or even Steve Jobs did different from others that made them stand out? It most certainly wasn't their education nor their wallets being heavy. So how were they able to cause a revolution in humanity? What is the reason that we wait outside the Apple Store for six hours before the new iPhone is released?

Having been on the leadership module and through the feedback session we have in the mornings, and from the documentaries about leadership I tried to answer this question. What I was able to understand was that the great leaders in the world inspire others by making the others believe in what he believes! The followers are not bothered about who the person is, what colour he is; but they are inspired because the leaders belief, his ideology, his ethic and his principle. When Mahatma Gandhi fought for the independence of the country, he didn’t tell his followers what he was doing, or how he was going to get the freedom through Ahimsa or some other way, he instead inspired the nation by telling the nation WHY he wanted freedom of the country, WHY he wanted to be independent, and once he did this, he had a whole nation behind him, fighting along his side.

Organisations often forget this, and they almost never consider the reason why they’re doing the business they’re doing! And getting profit is not a reason for them doing it, but rather is the result. When organisations start asking the question of why they're doing the business, they get alongside them employees who understand the reason why the business is run, and they put their heart and soul into what they do, and hence have an efficient working system.

We must first start by believing in what we believe, and this is the way you can inspire your followers.

: 24 Feb 2016 23:09 |  Tags: #Leadership #Mbe |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem