If you want the job done, motivate your team. But if you want them to feel good about what they’re doing and give it their all and their full potential then you’ll need to inspire them. Most of us use the words motivate and inspire loosely, in that we believe them to hold the same meaning. But that’s certainly not the case. Much like there’s a difference between ‘managing’ and ‘leading’ a team, motivating and inspiring your team are slightly different as well. According to the dictionary meaning,

Motivation is to stimulate someone’s interest in or enthusiasm for doing something

while,

Inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

What’s the difference between them? Well, it’s how inspiration brings “feeling” into the equation. Tapping into your team’s internal drive and aspiration to succeed can guarantee you they’re aiming to win. Their personal win will subsequently help your company win as well.

So how do you step up as a leader and take motivation to the next level towards inspiration? Here are three proven ways to achieve this.

1. Leadership Through Mentoring

Mentoring is a highly beneficial process which allows individuals to gain much insight, access to information and knowledge from experience and simply learn a lot. It’s an age-old process that works miracles for individuals who can extract the most from their mentors. While a coach can help you tap into your full potential, a mentor will elevate your thought process so you’re able to achieve more than just professional success. Mentors don’t just influence your work, they influence your way of life. Acting as a mentor for your team provides you the opportunity to truly connect with them and inspire them to achieve much more than just getting the job done, to accept only success even when failure seems to be a reality and to rise to take on any daunting challenge. Mentoring can have a lifelong impact on individuals inspiring them to aim beyond personal achievements.

2. Community Involvements

Companies that have an active Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program have a positive impact on their communities. And while it’s commendable, often you’ll find yourself wondering if all the CSR efforts are for corporate recognition or to truly to inspire people? Being involved and supporting your community is great but all that effort falls short if your team doesn’t believe in it. The impact of your involvement needs to start from within your company. Social causes that your team believes in, feel for and are willing to invest themselves into are what’s truly going to help you inspire them. Why’s that important? It’s to reignite your team’s confidence in their company and belief that all their efforts to help the company grow and succeed will directly impact the community they serve. That’s inspiring your team from the heart and much more than marketing gimmickry.

3. Flaunt Your Team

I’ve come across a few business websites which have featured their entire workforce on their company’s ‘About Us’ page. Sure it’s easier to do this when you have about 25 people or so. When the numbers are higher (think a few hundreds or more) cramming everyone on a webpage can be challenging. But, here’s the angle you should be thinking of. Isn’t every single person in your company an important contributor? By showcasing your entire team on the company website you’ll prove to them that they’re an integral part of the team and how proud you are of their contributions. How do you manage this for a large number of employees? One way is to feature teams on a rotational basis. Or you could work with a developer who can optimally use your webpages minimalistic space.

These are a few simple ways you can transform motivating your team into inspiring them. While motivating will help them achieve goals and targets of today, inspiring them will have them strive to realize the company’s overall purpose. That’s the only way they’ll go above and beyond their call of duty and synchronize their personal and professional achievements with that of the company’s.

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