Lean Quote: Great Leaders Inspire Greatness in Others

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Average leaders raise the bar on themselves; good leaders raise the bar for others; great leaders inspire others to raise their own bar."  — Orrin Woodward

Great leaders inspire greatness in others. They create an environment in which people are able to expand and evolve, with the support and encouragement to become successful in whatever they pursue.

So how can you develop others for greatness? Here are the core attributes:

Hold high standards. Great leaders set high standards for themselves. They lead by example, knowing that a demonstration of character is the best way to lead others to develop their own high standards and work ethic.

Lead from within: One of the most important ingredients in the formula for success is having a great leader stand alongside you, believing in you, supporting you, guiding you. Commit now to becoming that great leader for your people.

Stick to your commitments. Great leaders know the strength of being responsible and keeping their word. If they tell someone they’ll do something, they do it. They’re honest about their limits; they understand that when people fail it’s most often not because of a lack of desire but a lack of commitment.

Show how to make failures part of success. Great leaders teach that successful people aren’t born but made, through all kinds of experiences, and that studying failure and learning from it is a key feature of all successful people.

Encourage imperfection. Great leaders know you don’t have to be perfect to inspire others. They inspire people with the way in which they deal with their own imperfections—they accommodate and work around and focus on what they can accomplish.

Provide a safety net. Great leaders encourage others to try new ideas without fear of repercussion or punishment if they don’t work out. They know the more you try the more you’ll succeed, because calculated risks can pay off in the long run. The very best leaders encourage their people to take every risk and drop every fear, because only those who are willing to risk going too far can find out how far they can go.

Some believe inspiration is just something leaders need to provide on big occasions. They see it as the yearly speech where leaders get up in front of the employ­ees to get them revved up and encouraged. However, inspiration is much more than this. Everything a leader does, every day, impacts their employees. If a leader would take even a few minutes to ask people how they’re doing, thank them and encourage them to do more; that effort counts. In fact, everything counts. Likewise, everything employees do, on every level, counts within the organization’s results as a whole.