We firmly believe in placing people at the core of transformation initiatives. It is essential to deeply connect with individuals, guiding them through their emotional journey. This can be achieved by integrating a people roadmap, incorporating tangible "EQ activities," with the transformation roadmap, which encompasses strategic "IQ activities." We are united in recognizing the significance of emotions as a key driver for success. Emphasizing the human aspect and emotions right from the start, we advocate for prioritizing efforts to create business engagement and readiness. Additionally, fostering a technology mindset can be achieved through innovative approaches that enable individuals to truly feel and experience the transformation.
Inspiration drives success
A successful transformation journey should always begin with setting the right conditions to manage the emotional journey of people within your organisation. It all starts with the story behind the transformation, the why, and making sure that you do not just tell this story, but inspire people and touch their hearts by a compelling narrative and bringing a purposeful vision.
Vision sets the tone and serves as the foundation for the transformation, and leadership teams are the first to set this condition right. Steve Jobs said, “Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.” Behind every movement for change there is a story. It is the story that enables others to rally around a common purpose. Combine this with a vision that articulates what you want your organisation to be like, and notice how this mobilizes others.
Therefore, if you want to inspire change and accelerate your digital transformation, understanding the people whom the change is for, as well as the people who are essential when implementing the change, is imperative. What are their needs, what ignites their acceptance and motivation, what keeps them engaged? And no, you don’t need to be a psychiatrist to tap into their minds.
People are uniquely diverse and tune into the frequency of What’s In It For Me.
The neuroscience behind an inspirational, purposeful vision & narrative
Humans have been telling stories for tens of thousands of years, which means our brains are hardwired to engage with the narratives we read and hear. This makes an inspirational narrative extremely effective when used with purpose and a clear direction.
Paul J Zak, director of the US Centre for Neuroeconomics Studies and a professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University, discovered that when an audience listens to a compelling, character-driven story containing a dramatic arc, the brain releases oxytocin — the ‘love’ neurochemical — which makes the audience more generous, compassionate and trustworthy. Based on his research, Zak states that stories that are personal and emotionally compelling engage more of the listener’s brain, and thus are better remembered than simply stating a set of facts. He argues that stories are an effective way to transmit important information and values from one individual or community to the next.
This means that even if your employees start out as hesitant, by using a storytelling technique, you can shift your employees’ mood into empathy, cooperation and support of your message.
Stop telling and start inspiring
Now that we highlighted the importance of managing the emotional journey of employees throughout transformations, as well as the importance of creating buy-in of your people from the start by inspiring them, we can dive deeper into key take aways on how to do it.
- Starting with a Purposeful Vision and What’s In It For Me scenario
Create a compelling narrative that inspires others to want to be engaged and involved. Why does the programme exist, why does it matter? What would happen if success is achieved? And what would that success look like through different lenses: a customer lens, an employee lens, a societal lens. It’s important to spend time on crafting a narrative that is in human talk, and has nothing to do with technology or processes. In every technology transformation that we have guided, you see the difference in ROI, when you set the human conditions for change from the start, instead of only focussing on the technology aspect. Inspiration stimulates employees to reflect internally. When values are aligned, deep emotional drivers are engaged, and the employee is moved and motivated to act and raise their level of performance to achieve higher goals.
- Learn and adopt an inspirational leadership mindset & skills
Inspirational leadership inspires action, significantly raises individual and team performance levels and ignites creativity and audacious innovation. It truly unlocks latent potential by tapping into our inner motivation and values and inspires people to follow their passion and move towards ambitious goals. In our experience, inspired and motivated people and teams significantly impact organisational performance.
Becoming an inspirational leader
Everyone can become an inspirational leader, all we need to do is unlock our inspirational potential and find an opportunity to demonstrate our capability. We all have an emotional blueprint and style which will be unique to each person.
However, there are skills which we can learn, grow and develop to increase our impact on our colleagues.
It is essential to understand that becoming an inspirational leader requires focused effort, practice and the ability to self-reflect. Inspiration is personal, as our source of inspiration is closely linked to our beliefs, values and identity.
Inspirational leadership is a mindset and a skill. It should be thought of as an action-orientated mindset where one individual can ignite a fire in another person’s heart and mind and move a person or team to take action and achieve something more significant than the current status quo far beyond their imagination.
Inspiring change for your transformation journey
If there is one key take-away, it is to tap into the emotions of people. Remember the importance of engaging people's emotions and connecting them with rational transformation to achieve desired objectives. Transformations go beyond mere processes; they necessitate the cultivation of an EQ and IQ-driven mindset and approach throughout the organization, guided by inspirational leadership.
Failure is almost certain if the right conditions are not established from the outset. To be honest, the majority of ‘leaders’ neglect to establish these emotionally intelligent (EQ-driven) conditions; instead, they simply dictate instructions. Consider this: What if we shifted from commanding to inspiring? Genuine organizational and people transformation can never be achieved without inspiration. Inspiration serves as the propelling force behind any meaningful transformation. We are here to assist you in creating these EQ-driven conditions within your organization, enabling you to embark on a purposeful journey with an inspirational vision embraced and enacted by all. Remember, inspiration is the engine! Now, take the first step and ignite your inspiration engine!
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Summary
It’s imperative to tap into people's emotions and link them to rational transformation to achieve desired objectives. Transformations go beyond technology and processes, and require a mindset and approach that integrate emotional and intellectual intelligence across the organization, driven by inspirational leadership. Failing to establish the right conditions from the beginning can lead to failure. Rather than simply instructing, leaders should inspire. Inspiration is vital for genuine organizational and people transformation, serving as the driving force.
