Having worked for five years as chief information officer (CIO) of an Asia-based bank, Craig was faced with a major organisational restructuring from a traditional hierarchy to a matrix one. This saw the number of leaders directly reporting to him significantly reduced. He and nearly all his C-suite peers therefore had to step up their ability to influence without having the direct power to enforce their ideas.

What Craig and his colleagues really needed, however, was to become more inspiring leaders, and learn how to get others willing to do what was required.

What does it take to grow your “Inspire Quotient” (InQ)? Firstly, it is important to understand the make-up of an inspiring leader. Research by Progress-U found seven key qualities in leaders with a high InQ: healthy self-esteem, authenticity, emotional intelligence, an executive presence, mindful courage, charisma, and balanced versatility.

Craig and two colleagues attended a retreat where they and other senior leaders worked intensively on these aspects. An online assessment and interview held beforehand revealed that Craig needed to particularly focus on his self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and on boosting his charisma.

Craig learned that his lack of healthy self-esteem was rooted in being overly self-critical, often deeply regretting his mistakes. He came to realise that even when he did err, he was still doing his best. He also discovered that he came across as rather distant in certain situations, thus affecting his ability to inspire others.

The three colleagues defined concrete action plans for their InQ development. Craig decided to pick two further trusted colleagues to give him feedback whenever he seemed too distant or too self-critical. Follow-ups, in the form of coaching and peer sessions, were also organised.

Craig said that besides developing inspiring leadership, the most significant benefit was in feeling more at peace, and therefore even more resilient when facing new challenges.

This article appeared in the Classified Post print edition as Boosting your InQ.

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Boosting your ‘Inspire Quotient’ will help your ability to influence others