How to Leave People Energised After Every Interaction

Hi there, I'm Ben Morton and welcome to another episode of the Leaders Kit Bag. It's the weekly micro edition of my podcast. Each episode is just six minutes long and is designed to provide you with tips, tools and tactics around specific aspects of leadership and management. It addresses some of the most common, common challenges you will face as a leader or manager. They are all recorded unscripted whilst I'm out walking in the countryside. So you'll probably hear birds tweeting in the background or just ambient noise as the people around me are going about their day to day life. That's all I'm going to say by way of an introduction. So let's dive straight in to this week's episode.

If you are the type of leader who wants to leave everybody that you meet feeling more energized, engaged and motivated after every interaction you have with them, then today's episode of the Leaders Kit Bag is for you. And if what I've just said resonates with you, then you are absolutely on the path to towards becoming a great leader. Why do I say that? Because over three decades of research by Jim Coues and Barry Posner, as published in their brilliant book the Leadership Challenge, tells us that one of the things that people consistently say they look for and want from a leader who they admire and will willingly follow someone who is inspiring. And that is what this episode of the Leaders Kickback is all about. Now, as I said, being an inspiring leader is about leaving everybody that you meet with more energy than when you met them. It's about being an energizer rather than a drain. It's about being a radiator as opposed to a mood hoover. And I'm sure you've met at least one mood hoover in your career. They are the people who somehow just managed to suck the will to live and energy out of every room. But being an inspiring leader, being an energizer, being a radiator, isn't simply about charisma. Nor is it just about being able to give grand Steve Jobs style presentations from the stage. It is about having a positive impact on those around you in every interaction, no matter how big or how small. But does this matter, you might ask? And are we not at risk here of simply creating a culture of toxic positivity? Well, yes, it does absolutely matter. Being an inspiring leader is about much more than simply making people feel good or creating a happy workplace. Yes, that is important. But the benefits, the impact when we focus on being inspiring are significant. Research shows us that inspiring leaders have an impact on the productivity within their teams, functions or businesses engagement. Employee engagement goes up and we get better staff retention. So it does absolutely matter. And with regard to toxic positivity, we need to be clear here. Being an inspiring leader, being an energizer, leaving people with energy is absolutely not about making everything positive. We can still acknowledge challenges and difficulties, but leave people energized. And we can do this simply by saying things like, guys, I appreciate this is a tough, difficult situation we are in, but do you know what? I 100% believe that we can and will find the solution to this challenge. That's how we can be inspiring in difficult times. That's it for this episode. As always, I hope it's been useful. Look after yourself. Look after those who've got the privilege and responsibility to lead. And until next time, lead on.