Thing 7: Motivating and inspiring others

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In Thing 7 you will examine what it takes to motivate and inspire others and why this is important for good leadership. We ask you to think about who has inspired and motivated you and what have you done to encourage others to be the best they can be.

Open Badge Information

Open Badge: SSSC 23 Things Leadership – Thing 7: Motivating and inspiring others

You may find it helpful to complete Things 1-4 before starting Thing 7.

Introduction

Through your day-to-day practice you can motivate and inspire other people in many ways. For example:

  • Setting ambitious goals, and expecting the best of yourself and others
  • Modelling positive attitudes and behaviours that inspire confidence in others
  • Being responsible for a particular area of work, and bringing others with you
  • Reflecting on your own strengths and weaknesses, and supporting others to do the same
  • Valuing and respecting the contributions, skills and strengths of others
  • Working collaboratively with others to inspire change
  • Creating a culture of learning and continuous improvement, where everyone’s contributions are valued and people are motivated to develop themselves and encourage others.

Instructions

1. On the Step into Leadership website, watch the video where Alexander Warren talking about dreaming of the future. In this resource Alexander demonstrates motivational and inspirational leadership. He speaks of his dreams, achieving them, and his motivation to inspire others to fulfil their dreams. The story includes the involvement of others in supporting and encouraging Alexander and describes Alexander’s impact on the learning and development of social service workers.

2. Recent research – Enabling leadership – identified what good leadership looks like in Scotland’s social services. The research proposed a theory of change and logic model. If you look at the Leadership Logic Model you will see that there are descriptors under the headings for:

  • What do good leaders bring?
  • What do good leaders do?
  • How do good leaders engage?

Many of these characteristics, behaviours and attitudes are vital to motivating and inspiring others.

3. Having looked at the Alexander Warren video:

  • What inspires you about Alexander’s journey?
  • Which of the logic model descriptors do you think Alexander demonstrates in his story?
  • How would you describe the support provided by Steve (Lead Training Consultant, Thistle Foundation) to Alexander?

4. Now, reflecting on your own experience and practice:

  • Think about who has inspired and motivated you. What was it about them that made you feel motivated and inspired?
  • Think of a situation when your own practice, attitude and behaviours have motivated and inspired others or encouraged them to be the best they can be. This might be something as ‘simple’ as a situation where you have led by example or modelled best practice to colleagues.
  • Look again at the Leadership Logic Model. In the same way as you used the descriptors to appreciate Alexander’s story, apply them to your own example of motivating and inspiring others. In particular consider the descriptors under:
    • What do good leaders bring?
    • What do good leaders do?
    • How do good leaders engage?
    • How do people respond?

5. Write a statement (minimum 200 words) on what you have learned about the way people can be motivated and inspired by good leadership behaviours. Drawing on the example you thought about in step 4, this should include reflection on how your own practice and leadership behaviours have motivated, encouraged or inspired others.

You can provide the statement on the Open Badge application form or provide a link to your own *blog/portfolio.  You may find it helpful to look at Recording Your Learning and Reflecting on Leadership.

*If you want to use a blog or ePortfolio entry as evidence, you might find our guide to preparing and publishing your evidence useful.

Click here to access helpful resources for Thing 7