Research among 80 CEOs, hundreds of managers and thousands of workers shows how YOU can be a more inspiring leader. They key? Don't try to be inspiring - try to leave them feeling inspired.

1. HOW TO BE A MORE INSPIRING LEADER
Kevin Murray, Chairman, The Good Relations Group

2. inspire
Line breaks: in|spire
Pronunciation: /ɪnˈspʌɪə /
Definition: Encourage, stimulate
Synonyms: Affect, animate, be responsible for, cause, elate
embolden, enkindle, enliven, excite, exhilarate, fire up,
galvanize, give impetus, give one an idea, give rise to,
hearten, imbue, impress, infect, inflame, influence,
infuse, instill, invigorate, motivate, provoke, quicken,
set up, spark, spur, start off, stir, strike, sway, touch,
trigger, urge, work up
Antonyms: discourage, dissuade

3. WHO AM I?
40 years a communicator
Crime Reporter
News Editor
Managing Editor
Head of Communications, Bayer
Director Corporate Affairs, UK Atomic Energy Authority
Director of Communications, British Airways
Chairman, Bell Pottinger Chairman, Good Relations
Author, two best selling books on leadership
© Kevin Murray

4. MY OBJECTIVE
Language is a system of communication
There is a Language of Leaders (a system)
we should all be fluent in
It’s not about inspiring speeches
It’s all about leaving people feeling inspired
I want to leave you feeling inspired to behave
differently
And I want you to be a more inspiring and
more effective leader

5. WHY BOTHER TO BE MORE INSPIRING?
When your employees are more inspired, they are more engaged.
And greater engagement has a powerful, positive effect on:
Productivity & Performance
Companies in the top quartile averaged 18% higher level of productivity
Customer Satisfaction
Improved engagement saw a NPS 24% higher than those where engagement had declined
Innovation
59% of engaged employees say their jobs bring out their most creative ideas vs only 3% of
disengaged
Absenteeism/well-being
Engaged employees take an average of 2.69 sick days / annum vs. 6.19 days for the disengaged
Retention
Companies with high levels of engagement show turnover rates 40% lower
Health & Safety
Organisations with engagement in the bottom quartile average 63% more accidents
Income Growth
Highly engaged workforces saw a 13.7% improvement in net income growth vs. a decline of 3.8%
Profitability
Engaged companies have margins 4x higher
Source: www.engageforsuccess.org

6. WHAT ARE THE DRIVERS OF ENGAGEMENT?
Productivity & Performance
Customer Satisfaction
Innovation
Absenteeism/well-being
Retention
Health & Safety
Income Growth
Profitability
Source: www.engageforsuccess.org
Organisational Integrity
Engaging Managers
Employee Voice
Visibly Inspiring Leadership

7. MY VIEW
80 Leaders (2,000 years of experience)
interviewed
350 Managers researched
4,000 Workers researched
Dozens of clients
Leading organisations myself, for 20 years
40 years communicating
We need to behave in new ways…

8. IN SEARCH OF INSIGHTS
INTO INSPIRING LEADERS…
…I interviewed the CEO’S of all these organisations…

9. … and wrote about what they told me
…to establish the ‘12 principles of inspiring leaders’
© Kevin Murray

10. THE 12 PRINCIPLES EXPLAINED
1. Draw on your passion to inspire others. Others will only change their
behaviours if you change the way they feel. You have to learn how to convey
your feelings, so that others are inspired by the depth of your passion.
2. Have a strong sense of purpose and a clear set of values. Leaders know exactly
what they feel is right. This makes for speedier decision making as well as
ensuring statements are authentic.
3. Be focused on the future. Leaders have a clear understanding of where the
business is going. They use this future knowledge to manage the present.
4. Get outside. Put yourself in other people’s shoes and always keep the outside
world in mind. How does it feel to be a client? How does it feel to receive your
service? Use this in decision-making.
5. Engage. Engagement is the Holy Grail of top leaders. However, you can only
engage people if you’re in constant conversation with them.
6. Be audience-centric. What is on the minds of the people you’re speaking to?
Show people you really value them, both your employees and your customers.

11. 7. Listen. When you listen first, and react with appropriate actions, you create
enormous goodwill. Learn to give people a damn good listening to!
8. Have the courage of your convictions. You need to have strong views if you
want to influence people. Ideally, these views bring together your purpose and
values and show why it is to everyone’s benefit if they do things your way.
9. Use stories. Use the power of emotive storytelling to communicate. Often it’s
hard to explain your thoughts in a rational way, but stories have a way of
getting to the nub of a problem and showing how it can be solved.
10. Give out the right signals. Inadvertent signals, like looking grumpy, can say
more than a thousand words. Make sure you use positive body language. Look
at people directly, don’t be distracted when you are in meetings with them.
Make sure you take a stance on issues such as bullying in the organisation.
11. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Never try to wing it, it won’t work. Some
audiences (journalists for example!) like to pour over every word you utter.
12. Never be satisfied. Even the most experienced and successful leaders
constantly strive to improve their ability to connect and communicate with
people.

12. HOW 350 LEADERS RATED THEMSELVES
(OUT OF 10) ON THE 12 PRINCIPLES
Prepare Properly for Public Platforms 5.75
Purpose & Values 5.79
Future Focus 5.85
Engage through Conversations 6.05
Bringing the Outside In 6.22
CI 6.25
Stories 6.51
Signals 6.53
Authentic 6.72
Audience-Centricity 6.77
Point of View 7.04
Listening 7.16
Average Mark 63.9%

13. BUT WHEN I ASKED 4,000 WORKERS HOW
INSPRIRING THEIR BOSSES WERE…
They said… 1. They would give their bosses < 5/10 for being inspiring
2. Only 1 in 5 of their bosses was inspiring
3. Only 1 in 20 was truly inspiring
HOW DID INDUSTRY SECTORS RATE FOR INSPIRING BOSSES?
1. Media, Marketing, Advertising, PR and Sales (31%)
2. IT and Telecommunications (28%)
3. Hospitality and Leisure (25%)
4. Utilities (21%)
5. Financial Services (21%)
6. Government (20%)
7. Manufacturing (17%)
8. Retail Services (16%)
9. Travel, Transport and Distribution (15%)

14. MY KEY FINDINGS…
“A leader is best when people
barely know he exists; when his
work is done, his aim fulfilled,
they will say: we did it ourselves”
Lao Tsu
Chinese Philosopher
“Don’t train them to be inspiring.
Train them to leave people
feeling inspired”
Kevin Murray
Wannabe Philosopher

15. IT IS ALL ABOUT ENGAGEMENT
But that requires engaging leaders who
follow the 12 principles
THE 12 PRINCIPLES… ENABLE THE 4 DRIVERS… WHICH DELIVER THESE BENEFITS…
Productivity & Performance
Customer Satisfaction
Innovation
Absenteeism/well-being
Retention
Health & Safety
Income Growth
Profitability
Organisational Integrity
Engaging Managers
Employee Voice
Visibly Inspiring Leadership

16. AFTER ALL THIS RESEARCH, I WROTE
A SECOND BOOK
A manual for aspiring
leaders and for those who
advise them…
…how to be more
inspiring

17. IT CONTAINS ALL OF THESE
INSPIRATION LESSONS
10 steps to more authentic leadership
7 ingredients of a compelling vision
8 ways to bring the outside in
7 habits to enable more powerful conversations
10 steps for more persuasive communications
7 techniques used by great listeners
6 killer questions for high quality feedback
8 signals that kill inspiration
7 rules for purposeful stories
4 ingredients of a powerful point of view
7 tips for public platforms
6 reasons leaders should use social media
12 questions to test your ‘Inspiration Quotient’
™

18. HOW IS YOUR INSPIRATION QUOTIENT?
Ask yourself these questions…rate yourself out of 10
™
1. Can you say that you and your leadership team genuinely inspire your people?
2. Are you confident that everyone has a clear view of your purpose and values so decisions are
aligned?
3. Do your people understand what each of them needs to do to achieve your vision, and are they
inspired by it?
4. Is everyone committed to improving your key relationships – with each other, your suppliers,
partners, stakeholders and importantly, your customers?
5. Are you having enough conversations with your people so they feel engaged, motivated and
committed, and in so doing are you recognising good work?
6. Do you truly understand what is important to your people so that you can talk about issues
that are key for them?
7. Are you a good listener? Do you get input and respond to concerns? And do you make it easy
for people to bring bad news?
8. Would your people say you speak out strongly and clearly on the issues that are important to
you?
9. Are you known as a leader who engages through the stories you tell, or are you better known
for charts full of facts and figures?
10. Are you confident that the way you act, and the signals you send, conveys the right messages?
11. Are you - and your leadership team - properly prepared and trained for speaking publicly,
ensuring every word counts?
12. Is communication a fundamental leadership priority, developing all of your leaders to become
inspiring communicators?

19. OR DO THE ONLINE TEST AT
www.leadershipcommunication.co.uk
Then compare yourself with the points on slide 13
and get tips for how to improve weak areas

20. FOR MORE INSIGHT OR HELP
Leadership Communication Test
The Good Relations Group
The Language of Leaders on Amazon UK
The Language of Leaders on Amazon Global
Communicate To Inspire on Amazon UK
Communicate To Inspire On Amazon Global
Kogan Page Publisher