Inspire, Encourage, Empower: 3 Practical Pillars of Leadership

Jon Gordon is an one of my favorite authors and speakers. I have had the opportunity to interview him multiple times (check out our video here).

One quote that deeply resonates with me is, "Leadership extends beyond one's actions; it encompasses the ability to inspire, encourage, and empower others." This powerful statement compels me to contemplate the true essence of these three fundamental concepts and their practical application in my own journey as a leader.

To Inspire

Definition: fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

Pracitical Ideas to Inpsire those you lead:

"Listen, Challenge, Commit. A Strong leader has the humility to liste, the confidence to challenge, and th wisdom to know when to quit arguing and get on board"- Kim Malone Scott, Radical Candor

Inspriation can be created by an individual, but in most canses, inspiration comes from collective ownership of the project or plan that lays before you. There is power as a leader in diving into the brainstorming conversation, asking the right questions, challenging the understanding and building a plan for the future. Leaders ultimatly make the decisions, but truly having investment from the team can inspire a long way.

To Do List:

• Share Ownership

• Truly Listen

• Challenge and Be Challenged for the greater vision and mission

To Encourage:

Definition: give support, confidence, or hope to (someone).

Practical Ideas to Empower those you lead:

“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.” ~William Arthur Ward

Encouragment is a skill, like any other that needs to be developed. Two ways that I have encouraged teams in the past is through humor and sincere support for what I am seeing them do. For humor, at the end of any big project, we would do something to celebrate. Nothing big, but a lunch or breakfast, a box of Crumbl Cookies, a sonic drink order to support and acknowledge what has been done. Additionally, I would create suppurlative certificates bringing the experiences, positive and negative, to light in a funny way.

One example was the "Everything is Fine" award for the person who was the most stressed about the way the project was progressing, eventhough it wasn't quite as planned.

Bringing humor into the celebration allowed for all of the ups and downs of the project to be supported and shared together with the team, encouraging more mistakes, ideas, successes and raising the bar higher.

To Do List:

• Write a Note by hand with thought

• Sweat the Small Stuff-Encourage the details

To Empower

Definition: give (someone) the authority or power to do something. make (someone) stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights.

Practical Ideas to Empower those you lead:

"Enlarging others makes you larger. Empowerment is powerful." - John Maxwell

To truly empower others, a leader must provide unwavering support and demonstrate a willingness to share in both the triumphs and setbacks. By entrusting others with the process and taking ownership of the final outcome, leaders create an environment where individuals can thrive and grow. This approach fosters a sense of trust, encourages collaboration, and cultivates a culture of accountability. Ultimately, it is through empowering individuals, they are able to unleash their full potential and achieve remarkable results.

To Do List:

• Create spaces for others to win

• Support the wins, embrace the failures