The Cries for Inspirational Leadership
Leadership is perhaps best viewed as a partnership – the partnership between the “leader” and the “led”. The goal of beneficial leadership in this regard would be to facilitate and unlock the potentials of the parties to achieve desired end results. In this context, a good leader is the person that acts as the bridge linking people to their goals through inspired actions. That distinguishes a true leader from a “greeder”. A “greeder” is the person that benefits only at the expense of the people that he or she leads.
Unfortunately, there are many such people today in diverse positions of power, influence and authority. They pretend to be leaders but they are in actual fact exploiters of the will, trust and belief of the people that they supposedly lead. The often silent but agonizing cry of these people for inspirational leadership is often met with more brazen exploitation. The cry for inspirational leadership is global and transcends all boundaries.
We surely need more personally inspired leaders in every sphere where human leadership is manifested. It is personal inspiration rather than mere motivation that makes good leaders to stand out. Inspiration is far superior to motivation in that it is a process that is spirit-induced and heart-controlled. It is revolutionary in concept and dynamic in approach. An inspired person is energised, enthusiastic and so passionate about his convictions that he is perpetually restless and tireless in pursuit of his goals.
I remember once asking a class during a coach-training session if well known transformational leaders like Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and Bill Gates, among several others were inspired or merely motivated to do what they are recorded to have done? There was not one person in the class that was not convinced that these leaders were personally inspired.
The truth is that several great scientists, writers, politicians, entrepreneurs, philosophers, entertainers, artists, teachers and others that made lasting impact in the lives of others and in their communities have been personally inspired to do so. Each of them has through some personal ingenuity made the world a better and happier place for others, because there has been a massive and irresistible personal drive to make a lasting impact. That is personal inspiration, and is a hallmark of true leadership.
You cannot stop a truly inspired leader or even try to put him down, because he seems to be propelled by forces of stronger convictions within him than all the negativism around him. That is why true personal inspiration is the key to successful leadership. A leader that is not personally inspired often ends up being a stooge or puppet of other people. Unfortunately, one of the challenges of leadership succession and ascension is that some entrenched systems do not often favour the emergence and sustenance of truly inspired political leaders. As a result, the transformation that the people earnestly desire continues to elude them.
Need for Inspirational Leaders
Inspiration is the opposite of expiration. If a leader is not sufficiently inspired, he or she and the people being led would soon ‘expire’. There is a definite global call and cry for inspired leaders to stand up and take their stand. It matters little whether this is at the national, regional, local government or even corporate oganisational level, inspirational leadership cannot be ignored.
Where there are no signs of personal inspiration to compel positive and transformational movements, goodwill and resources would be squandered; time would be wasted; and most painfully, the people would be abused and debased. This leadership malaise also typifies poor management systems and absence of corporate governance in the corporate business setting.
There is no doubt that a greater percentage of the challenges that organisations all over the world are facing presently are management problems. These also tend to pose the greatest hindrance to business growth, sustainability, profitability and competitive advantage.
These problems may have diverse origins and effects, but they often relate to the poor management of people, resources, projects, communication and relationships. Interestingly, at the core of all of these is the problem of ineffective leadership. That is why in the corporate setting today, there needs to be a zero tolerance for sloppy leadership.
In order to inspire the kind of confidence that would make people acknowledge them as providing inspirational leadership, organisational leaders would need to develop certain qualities associated with inspirational leaders. Firstly, they would need to be more intuitive and learn to trust their instincts. If they are truly sincere and eager about impacting as many people as possible through positively 
influence, their confidence would grow rapidly, as they regularly subject their hunch or gut feel to other confirmatory tests in making the right calls or decisions.
One other important characteristic of inspired leaders is their attitude and aptitude. The former would often attract people to them and encourage people around them to be positively influenced. The latter on the other hand, would project their personal disposition and ability to continually influence more people, provide direction and solve problems.
Added to these are the critical issues of personal character, temperament, reputation, integrity and humility. These are the factors that enhance whatever leadership and management skills that a person possesses.
Other characteristics that would make a leader truly inspirational are his experience and tenacity, especially because they would help to give the leader the right perspectives, as he further builds his capacity and confidence. All of these are however best put into test and practice when the leader is modeling, mentoring, coaching and developing others.
That is the real essence of inspirational leadership – it is to know how to deploy leadership skills, knowledge and experience in ways that they would build others 
up. The highpoint of inspirational leadership is therefore continuous knowledge transfer to others around and supporting him.
The rule of life, which states that a person must adapt or face extinction poses real challenges to the development of tenacious and resilient leaders. Moreover, a lot of people in positions of responsibility have little or no firsthand experience of dealing with issues, such as massive recession on a global scale. Consequently, many decision- makers are now feeling the pressure of leadership, as they have to take tough decisions to keep people just above the tide. Even the most prepared of leaders are often shaken by some of the challenges that they face, not to talk of the unprepared.
What many do not appreciate as well as they should is that leadership is a great journey. It is an awesome adventure to the world of continuous change, inevitable transformation, social impact, people influence and corporate greatness. Leaders that would inspire true changes must therefore communicate realistically and effectively to their followers, and let them know that they are on a great and adventurous journey. This reminds me of two jokes shared about pilots flying a plane.
In the first joke, the pilot says this: “This is your Captain speaking…. these modern planes are a lot different from the ships that I’m used to navigating,
so you’ll have to be a little more patient with me…”.In the second joke, the pilot says: “Hey folks, we’re going to play a little game of geography trivia. If you can recognise where we are, please tell your flight attendant and receive an extra pack of peanuts”. What would you do if you heard any of these two statements from a pilot of an aircraft in which you are travelling? Would you prefer to bail out rather than try to trust a pilot that you are not sure is doing the right things the right way?
Sometimes, we may question the methods of our leaders, but if we are confident that they know what they are doing, we can relax. But, the leaders have the responsibility to communicate in ways that would allay people’s fears. True leaders must be honest about the fact that the journey they are taking people through may be rough and bumpy at times, but that the destination remains in view at all times. That would make the people to be mentally and emotionally prepared for the twists, turns, challenges, thrills and the many unexpected happenings along the way. A leader that has become so adept at this makes people both hopeful and realistic about the future.
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Dr Emmanuel Imevbore is an executive coach, management consultant and business strategist. He is the CEO of International Coaching and Mentoring Institute, a specialist coaching and coach-training Organisation. He can be reached by email:
emmanuel@ic-mi.com; and WhatsApp: +27 79 259 1768.
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