[00:00] Welcome back to the Focus B show. This is Katie Suddar here aka the focus b. And on this show, I interview high performers and leaders around the world to discover their secrets on peak performance, productivity, mindfulness, and leadership. So if you want to take your performance and your leadership to the next level, then you're in the right place. Listen up and connect with the magic.

[00:37] Welcome to a new episode of the Focus B show. I absolutely, absolutely love today's topic on transformational leadership. As a transformational leadership coach, it makes sense that I am passionate about this. So you might think, okay, transformation. You see what that's about? Transforming processes, transforming people, transforming your life, which is creating a great change towards a positive outcome. And leadership about leading others, guiding them towards your vision that combined creates transformational leadership. It was a term coined by James McGregor Burns, and he explains that the leaders and the followers push each other up to level up to higher potential and outcomes. And that's really the way I like to think about it. That's the reason why I'm so passionate about self leadership, because if you're leading a team, if you're leading your business, you start to lead yourself to higher standards, to greater levels of excellence and high potential and leveling up and learning new things, then you will inspire others to do this, and then they will inspire you back. I am always hugely inspired by the people I coach. It helps me to level up, and then I work with them to help them to level up in their leadership and grow and inspire their team. So really it's a win win, and everyone grows and learns and inspires altogether. So what are the four fundamental elements of transformative leadership? The first aspect is intellectual stimulation. In this case, what it means is that as a transformative leader, if you are leading a business, if you're a thought leader, if you are managing a team, if you're managing yourself, it's giving the other people the creativity, the space, the independence, the autonomy to grow to the next level, to tap into their potential. This is what transformative leaders do very differently to maybe the old version or definition that we have of a leader that's very micromanagerial like that will just tell people what needs to be done. Now, the difference is, if you're a transformative leader, you might tell them the outcome, you might tell them your expectations, but you won't tell them all the little nuts and bolts and cracks to get there, not all the little steps. They will figure it out. They have the autonomy and the creativity and the freedom to figure it out. To develop this ability of intellectual stimulation as a transformative leader, you need to let go of control and perfectionism and quite a few other things. But really, control and perfectionism can prevent you from letting other people grow, from letting them be creative and free now, what happens is, if you don't leave room for that, the work and the performance of your team or the people you're working with, or the people you're inspiring won't be as strong. Because people learn best and people grow best when there's some freedom. It might be challenging for them, might be out of their comfort zone, they might feel stuck and lost at the beginning, but that's when they'll grow. It's also essential here to reflect on what are the strengths of the people around you and to tap into that. Because too often we're tempted to look at what are their weaknesses, where they're messing up, what should they do differently? And instead think, wait, what are they really good at? And how can I encourage them to do more of that, to use more of these skills so they grow and their performance will also increase. So it's really a win win. That's the first element, intellectual stimulation. The second element is really individual. So really looking at the individual people involved, this means not just flying high with your thoughts and ideas and not talking with the people. On the contrary, it means building connections, building rapport with the people you are leading. The best leaders are the ones where each and every person feels they're connected in some way. Now, if you think about it, there are some thought leaders out there, some people who are inspiring, who you've never spoken to, but you feel a connection. I know I do. With Tim Ferriss. I listen to his show all the time. I feel a connection. I feel I understand how he functions, I feel I know what sort of books he likes. I feel, you know, what sort of advice I can get from his podcast, who he likes to interview, how he thinks. And I feel a connection. So if you're a transformative leader of a huge company, it doesn't mean you need to talk to them all one on one. Although hopefully you do have strong rapport with the people on your leadership team, it means that you need to deliver a speech regularly or some encouraging messages to the whole group and the whole organization, and that they feel that connection with you. And then hopefully also down the line with all the different managers, they feel well connected to the manager, that feels well connected to the person above, and that all the connection sort of mounts up to you. But as a great transformative leader, the people individually feel a connection with you is hugely important because again, that will help them with what is the third pillar, which is motivation, so the people feel motivated to work on your vision. So in this pillar of motivation, there's the ability as a transformative leader to show, to illustrate, to highlight your vision, and that the people share it. That's when company culture is so important and the why of the company is huge and the different values because if your vision is so compelling that all the people working for you are driven by this vision, then you are definitely tapping into your transformative leadership skills. Again, this is the same for people who are maybe thought leaders or have their own business, or if you want to get investors in, have a compelling vision that they share into. If you want to get more clients, have a compelling vision that they share into. It's not only if you have a team, but it's also for client work, for investors. All of these things apply intellectually stimulation, the creativity, the link. With my clients, I don't micromanage how they work, but I help them have that creativity, that autonomy, that freedom, that's the intellectual stimulation. Then there's the individual aspect because I coach them one on one. And then there's a motivation aspect, the vision that we share, maybe their vision for their business, or the vision of the outcome of the coaching journey. All of these things also work if you're a business owner or a coach, that's also transformative leadership work. And the last aspect of transformative leadership is I'm wondering if you can guess by listening to this inspiration. And this is where self leadership WA so important because this is where you show up as a role model to them. So if you're the CEO of this company, or if you're the founder of this business, and you show up every day super motivated, inspired, energized, people pick up on this and they get inspired too. It's. A fundamental aspect of transformative leadership is having this inner inspiration, this self leadership, this ability to manage your thoughts, your emotions, have done the identity work that's necessary. Look at your beliefs, change your mindset. Put all this in place so that you have the inspiration and the motivation and then you inspire others as a role model. So that is the fourth fundamental pillar of transformative leadership. So to summarize, let's come back. Transformative leadership is where you inspire and motivate your followers. And followers inspire, motivate you back, and you both push each other, or inspire each other rather to a higher level of competency, but also of fulfillment and joy in your life. And for this we have four essential pillars, which are the inspiration part that I just mentioned around being a role model for others, then motivating them towards that vision, the individual aspect. So people really feel this connection, if you can one on one, amazing. If team's too big or too many people involved, then as much as possible create a feeling of connection. And the individual stimulation where people have that freedom, that creativity, autonomy to do their best work. So I hope you enjoyed today's episode on the four fundamental pillars of transformational leadership. And if you'd like to find out more about inner transformation for outer success, which is a topic I'm hugely passionate about, then you can check the link in the comments below. On YouTube or on my podcast for this free masterclass on inner transformation for outer success. Thank you so much for being here today and wishing you a wonderful.

[11:56] Thank you so much for tuning in today to the Focus Bee show. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback, so let me know in an Apple review or YouTube comment what was most valuable for you, and feel free to share this episode with a friend or a family member. Wishing you a wonderful, magical and focused day ahead.