In all organisation, the C-suite level need to be inspirational and sometime, they must be.

But to me, what really drive the organisation is when the mid-level managers are able to inspire their team. All too often the team or department crumple just because the mid-level managers dont know how to lead and inspire.

Depending on your personality and management style, there are many ways that you can inspire your team. But I believe the following are the basis of being an inspirational manager.

listen and observe

This is a critical skill and most managers know about it yet they dont do it. Before you can inspire your team, you need to know and understand your team. Not just their first name but also what make them click.

And when come to solving your team’s problems/issues, you must have the patience and time to listen and observe. Most of the time, your team will not tell you directly the problems or issue that are bothering them but they will show it through other means (e.g. group conversation or even body langauge).

Those observation will help the manager to give out well-informed advice or instruction which might lead to problems/issues being resolved faster.

You will be surprised by how much they appreciate you if you show them that you are listening.

In most cases, managers will listen for the first minute and start giving advice or instruction based on the assumption that they make from that one minute. The team might get frustrated because the advice or instruction usually doesnt make sense at all. And in the end, both side will went away disconnected.

be great in what you do. solve problem.

Dont be those manager who got their senior level role, just because they are great in selling themselves to the management.

You have to be good if not great in your functional skill. Your team will come to you with problems and they will be looking at you for solution or direction on where they can find the solution.

People will definitely be inspired by manager who know their stuffs.

do what you promise.

Or dont make promise that you cant keep. Accountability is the word. Your team will lose faith in you, let alone inspire by you, if you cant do what you have promise them.

If there are unforeseenable change of event that prevent you from fulfilling your promise, take extra effort to inform your team and tell them what else can you do for them.

lead by example.

If you have read enough management or leadership book, you will know that this is crucial. If you dont do it, no one will work for you whole-heartedly.

Not to dampen your spirit but doing what’s mentioned in this article will mot make you an inspirational manager instantly. Being inspirational is a 4 dimensional thing. Time is required to build it. But do it right,  you will be able to call upon your most capable team to go the extra miles for you when the needs rise.