B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Federal Election
  • Pinterest
  • AFL
  • WPP
  • AI
  • NRL
  • Anthony Albanese
  • EssenceMediaCom
  • Thinkerbell
  • News Corp
  • Channel 10
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • State of Origin
  • Cairns Hatchlings
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: The Importance Of Motivation & Inspiration As Key Leadership Skills
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Opinion > The Importance Of Motivation & Inspiration As Key Leadership Skills
Opinion

The Importance Of Motivation & Inspiration As Key Leadership Skills

Staff Writers
Published on: 8th August 2019 at 3:00 PM
Staff Writers
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

What are the key personal attributes that can transform managers into leaders and good leaders into great ones?

In the new book, Leading Well (Major Street Publishing $34.95), CEO of the Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia and New Zealand (IML ANZ) , David Pich, along with co-author and board chair Ann Messenger, have written a research-based guide which identifies the key personal attributes that create strong, honest and effective leadership.

In this exclusive extract below, chapter author Sam Bell discusses the importance of motivation and inspiration as key leadership skills:

The shift from transactional leadership to transformational leadership and then to situational leadership has brought more focus on the importance of motivation and inspiration as key leadership skills.

It has been argued that of the two, inspiration – the ability to inspire – is the more important leadership skill.

Marissa Levin distinguishes motivation as being pushed to accomplish a task; that is, being motivated by a result. Whereas inspiration is about being pulled towards something that stirs your heart, mind or spirit: “The most inspirational leaders ignite a spark within their employees and followers that move them to action. They don’t require motivation to act because they’ve been inspired’” – by a person, event or circumstance.

It is reasonable for global management teams to fixate about employee engagement, but ultimately leadership, in a world of infinite choices – where so much power to build value sits with the employees – is about inspiration.

Inspired employees exhibit three key characteristics. They are:

  1. Authentically dedicated – proud of their organisation for how it acts in the world and therefore they are self-driven.
  2. Deeply accountable – seizing authority, meeting obligations.
  3. Fully responsible.

In addition, inspired staff tend to be extraordinarily produc­tive. The HOW Report, A Global Empirical Analysis of How Governance, Culture and Leadership Impact Performance, characterises inspiration as 27 per cent more predictive of performance than engagement, which is contingent and transactional, hence only as strong as the organisation’s short-term performance and the employee’s career trajectory.

According to the report, eventually that transaction, driven by rewards, perks and other incentives, will expire, while inspiration – fuelled internally by deeply held beliefs and the connection between those beliefs and work – is enduring and profound.

It found that the key behaviours of inspirational senior leaders were that they:

  • Shared stories that exemplified how the organisation’s values came to life.
  • Held themselves accountable to standards of conduct in line with the organisation’s values.
  • Explained the role of values in making key decisions.
  • Publicly admitted their own mistakes.
  • Honoured commitments made to others.
  • Sought feedback to strengthen their leadership and increase their own impact.
  • Regularly connected with employees in meaningful ways.
  • Held themselves responsible for the team’s successes and failures.

The ability to inspire others comes from a set of beliefs and behaviours that start with the leader themselves. An ability to inspire is at its heart an internal process that others see and, by definition, find to be inspiring!

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: motivation
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

TV Ratings (12/6/2025): 1.4 Million People Viewed The Western Bulldogs Kicking Its Way Into The Top Eight
13/06/2025
WARC Downgrades Global Ad Spend Forecast Amid “Trade Tensions” & Uncertain Tech Market
13/06/2025
Marketers Call For Measurement ‘Parity’ In Video, But One Buyer Warns ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’
13/06/2025
Meta Cracks Down On Nudify Apps & Sues Hong Kong Developer Behind CrushAI
13/06/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?