SEVEN DIMENSIONS OF INSPIRED LEADERSHIP
The seven dimensions of Inspired Leadership (IL) and their associated competencies are diagrammed and defined below:
See detailed definitions below.
1. Meaning: Mobilizing meaning for the organization by articulating a vision for service and instilling a sense of purpose.
Purpose for Our Being and Coming Together: Identifying, articulating and maintaining focus on the deeper values and mission that drive you and your organization.
Service as Love In Action: Answering the question, “Why are we here?” Articulating how your work and organization serve needs and add value to those around you and to the world.
Vision: Dreaming the future into being by painting a detailed and compelling picture of it.
Turning Difficulties to Opportunities: Finding meaning in adversity and challenges. Reframing it into opportunities for growth and learning.
2. Grace: Leading and interacting with grace, passion, and positive emotions to instill hope, trust, celebration, joy, and fun.
Passion: Bringing vitality, excitement, and energy to your daily activities.
Joy: Experiencing and bringing fun and joy to your activities and work. Playfulness, joy, and fun have been demonstrated to lead to greater creativity and success in problem solving.
Gratitude: Appreciating people and celebrating accomplishments along the way.
Beauty: Valuing and noticing beauty and creativity in your and others’ work.
Optimism: Inspiring optimism, hope, and trust that things will work out for the best.
3. Inner-Directedness: Aligning with and inspiring others from your inner core of authenticity, freedom, confidence, and centeredness.
Integrity: Being discerning and standing firm and in alignment with your values and truth.
Freedom: Thinking and acting creatively outside the box and breaking free from outside norms and conventions.
Confidence: Expressing your unique, authentic self with ease, and comfort in your own skin.
Centeredness: Staying calm, collected, grounded, and in command even amidst chaos and uncertainty.
4. Motivating Based on Truth: Orienting yourself and others primarily based on an open interest in the truth rather than on ego gratification.
Egolessness: Remaining humble and non-defensively open to hearing the truth from others’ perspectives and being interested in their feedback.
Openness: Staying curious and accepting of the truth. Learning and growing without defensiveness, resistance, or resentment.
5. Showing Up with Authentic Presence: Bringing your full attention, focus, clarity of intention, and embodied power to every moment and interaction.
Attention: Being focused and present to what and who are in front of you.
Intention: Bringing awareness and clarity of purpose and intention to your engagements and interactions.
Empowered: Feeling and expressing your personal power that is embodied, strong, and grounded.
6. Cultivating Community: Fostering relatedness, teamwork, collaboration, and unity in and around your organization.
Connectedness: Feeling and cultivating connection and interpersonal relationships with others that are based on kinship, mutual understanding, collaboration, empathy, and compassion.
Synthesis: Finding connection and common ground by synthesizing conflicting or even paradoxical viewpoints into coherent, wider, and more inclusive perspectives.
Holism: Taking a wide and holistic “systems view” when looking at organizational situations and problems.
7. Utilizing Your Inner Wisdom: Tapping into your intuition and inner wisdom, providing a wide perspective.
Intuition: Tapping into your gut sense, instinctive feelings, and other modes of knowing that augment strictly analytical and rational thinking in order to gain insight, creativity, or make important decisions.
Higher-Self: Connecting with and receiving guidance from parts of you that can access your higher, inner wisdom.
Devotion: Harnessing the power that comes from alignment with, and loyalty and devotion to, a force or cause greater than your individual self.
Practice: Applying practices to gain fresh new perspectives through times set for reflection, relaxation, and recharging.