Inspiring Performance

Inspirational professional speaker, Kevin Asbjornson, speaks to the process and principle of innovation that result from inspired performance.

Twenty-first century society yearns for a leadership of possibility; a leadership based more on hope, aspiration, and innovation than on the replication of historical patterns of constrained pragmatism. Luckily, such a leadership is possible today. For the first time in history, leaders can work backward from their aspirations and imagination rather than forward from the past. The gap between what people can imagine and what they can accomplish has never been smaller.

Responding to the challenges and yearnings of the twenty first century demands anticipatory creativity. Designing options worthy of implementation calls for levels of inspiration and passionate creativity that, until recently, have been more the domain of artists and artistic processes than the domain of most managers. The time is right for artistic imagination to co-create the best and most influential leadership of our planet.

Performance is a function of psychological capacity and mental or physical ability fueled by Inspiration.  When you think of inspiring performances in your life, what specific events come to mind?  People typically refer to music concerts, theatre, sporting events and the Olympics. But when was the last time you were personally inspired to your best performance at work?  And if you are in a leadership position, when was the last time you truly inspired performance in the people and organization you are leading?

Inspired Leadership Creates Inspired Performance
Inspiring performance in others requires a unique leadership perspective. It begins with the idea of Inspiration vs. Motivation. People inherently find motivation within. But life’s stresses and pressure often occupy the space they need for inspiration. Therefore, inspiring, rather than motivating becomes the most important deliverable of leadership. By comparing leadership and motivation, we begin to understand the role of a leader to inspire and, therefore, enable people to unleash their inherent motivation.

Why should inspiration be every leader’s focus? Because Inspiration fuels Imagination, which triggers Innovation. And Innovation is the engine that drives success in the new global economy. The dynamic between these three I’s is explained in the I3 Model of Performance.

Inspiring performance in others also requires the same set of skills used by performing artists. That’s why truly inspirational leaders practice leadership as a performing art. They do this by following the Eight Keys to Inspired Leadership™.

To receive a complimentary copy of our DVD that demonstrates how Inspire!Imagine!Innovate! helps leaders inspire performance, click here.

Music and Transformational Leadership
Music is the international language of emotion.  Emotional intelligence is the international language of transformational leadership.  Performing artists who effectively reach and stay connected with their audiences are able to consistently evoke emotion and provoke thought. 

Music reconnects us with our authentic self, engages our senses and awakens us to the people, places and possibilities around us! Music, as leadership, has the potential to transform and inspire people.

While traditional leadership has advocated the rationalization of thought and suppression of emotion within an organization, transformational leadership understands that leadership is a performing art which requires an integration of performing arts-based training into leadership development initiatives. To read a short article on how to explore inspired leadership through music, please click here.

Performing arts-based training better prepares managers and leaders to compete in the performance and experience based economies of the world. An understanding of how the art of transformational leadership inspires performance within executives, is at the core of the Artistry of Leadership—Creating Meaningful Connections.

To preview a short film on how Kevin Asbjornson utilizes the language of music to develop inspired and transformational leaders, please click here.