Being inspirational or charismatic isn’t luck of the draw or simply a natural gift , it’s a skill that can be understood, practiced and developed.
And the literature agrees.
From The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane to The Inspiration Code by Kristi Hedges, many leadership experts believe the behaviours associated with being inspirational or charismatic can be developed over time.
Here at Drew Povey Consultancy, we hold the same view.
For aspiring leaders who may not feel naturally charismatic, this outlook is incredibly encouraging because it means inspirational leadership is accessible to us all.
What makes an inspirational leader?
Unsure how to be an inspirational leader? The most impactful inspirational leaders tend to do these six things particularly well.
They leverage influence to promote followship
A core component of leadership always comes back to John C. Maxwell’s definition; “leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less.”
And for someone to truly be influential, they must be able to encourage followship. Because while the job title of ‘Manager’ or ‘CEO’ can bestow a certain amount of authority, it doesn’t automatically make people want to follow you.
Imagine you need your team to work overtime to catch up with an impending deadline. If they’re not contractually obligated to work extra hours, it doesn’t matter whether you’re the department manager or even the CEO, they won’t be clocking in after hours if they don’t really want to.
They have to want to follow you: and this is where inspirational leadership comes in.
Inspirational leaders don’t just help people to understand where they’re going, they make them want to go there. That becomes particularly important when going through change, challenge or uncertainty.
They know how to transform inspiration into energy
Leadership isn’t just about setting the direction or some lofty vision about the future. It’s about creating the energy needed to move towards it.
Teams will always have a strategy, targets, goals and processes, but even with all those essential elements in place, they can still lack the crucial ingredient: momentum.
The inspirational leader brings optimism, enthusiasm and belief into the workplace. Those mindsets can become contagious within a team and across the wider organisation, creating the energy that drives momentum.
If you’re a leader but you’re unsure whether you inspire people in the workplace, ask yourself a simple question: What happens to the energy when I enter the room?
Does it shift positively or negatively? That’s often a really good place to start.
They recognise hope as a leader’s greatest currency
All great leaders understand that when there’s hope on the horizon, there’s power in the present.
Inspirational leaders are particularly good at helping people to see how their efforts today are connected to something bigger and better tomorrow.
Hope isn’t blind positivity or viewing the world through rose-tinted glasses. It’s the belief that something better is possible – and importantly, that our actions can help make it happen.
That distinction matters.
When times are difficult, people need more than instructions, targets and another to-do list. They need a reason to keep going.
By holding and communicating a credible sense of hope, inspirational leaders can help sustain motivation, resilience, and overall performance when it’s really needed.
They make people believe in purpose and themselves
Inspirational leaders know how to connect the work their team does every day to a bigger purpose (also known as the reason why), but they do more than that.
They’re also able to effectively communicate belief in achieving that purpose. In this way, inspirational leadership works on two levels by promoting:
- Belief in where the team is going
- Belief that the team can get there
People often perform differently when someone they respect sees potential in them that maybe they haven’t yet recognised in themselves.
Inspirational leaders therefore give their team a powerful opportunity to borrow this belief, unlocking new levels of confidence and performance that otherwise might not be available.
They understand that charisma is more than being loud
It’s a common misconception that charisma is about big speeches, excess confidence or extroversion, and being the loudest person in the room.
It isn’t.
In reality, charisma is much quieter and stems from being present, warm and having conviction. Because listening deeply can sometimes be even more inspirational than speaking brilliantly.
This aligns with one of the core principles from Dale Carnegie’s famous book How to Win Friends and Influence People: if you want to be interesting, you need to be interested.
People are most inspired when they can feel the leader’s belief – both in the destination and in them.
They practice inspirational leadership techniques
As we said at the beginning of this article, being an inspirational leader is a skill. And like any skill, it will require practice if you want to improve.
If you’re unsure where to start, try:
- Be present – rather than always distracted
- Tell stories – help people feel something and they’re far more likely to remember it
- Use the right language – talk about possibility, progress, purpose
- Stay curious – make your team feel interesting, not just useful
- Be encouraging – CEO can also stand for Chief Encouragement Officer
- Lead with positivity – catch people doing the right things and reinforce them
- Stay authentic – inspiration without credibility is simply performance
- Be consistent – what you do repeatedly matters far more than the occasional inspirational speech
Don’t be inspirational – inspire.
There’s an important distinction here. If you’re actively trying to be inspirational, chances are you’ll be more focused on performing for the right people and building a personality people notice.
Instead, focus on helping people to feel inspired. Create a feeling they’ll remember. That puts the focus back where it belongs.
This is because inspirational leadership isn’t about creating more attention around the leader, but creating more belief, hope and energy in the people you’re privileged enough to lead.
Ready to start inspiring?
At Drew Povey Consultancy, we offer tailored 1:1 and team coaching, and keynote delivery leadership support to help leaders and their teams drive forward.
To learn more about the relationship between leadership and inspiration or our bespoke leadership coaching services, please don’t hesitate to speak to a member of our team today.