5 Excellent Books and Ideas that make You an Inspirational Leader

Whether you are a new manager or an old one, there are times you feel dangerously low. May it be the continuous discussions with managers, team members and delegates or setting up the plans for the year, they suck the energy right out of you. And it's natural to have that gloominess all around. So why not fight those blues and stand an inspiration to others and be the leader that you always wanted to be?

So here are the 5 tips from 5 books that make you stand amidst the crowd:

1. Be positive and radiate optimism:

If there is a magic spell to dispel the gloom around, then it is the optimism. Positive people influence their environment by reducing the stress of themselves and all around. Researches from University of Kentucky found out that positive people outlive others by almost 50%.
Then the question arises: How do I spread optimism?
Folks, the answer is given by Dale Carnegie in his book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People." He says, the kind of energy you emit comes back to you multiplied. He asks us to set goals and become a positive person on the whole.
So, create a happy mood by engaging everyone in some event or a short recess discussion on movies or something playful. It relieves the tension and makes the tone of the surroundings light.

Which brings us to the second point in the list.

2. Set Positive Goals and chart Roadmap:

Being a positive person is a difficult job. For a chronic worry-wart, who frets at every single situation by imagining only the worst situations, being positive is equivalent to finding alien-life on an alien planet. And they, apart from being immersed in negativity themselves, drown all others who are with them.
So, how to take them out of the negativity depths?
Again, Steven Schuster comes to the rescue. In his book "Rewire your Mind," he talks about how to stop overthinking and take control of your brain for better decisions. He stresses on the point that letting our brain free of over-expectations frees mind and calms us.
So, schedule some achievable goals for yourself and talk about them with your team. Create a way to achieve them early by including a few members from different teams. It promotes an interactive environment in the office and lets you make new connections.

But does it help if there are team members who do not like to work with each other?  So the third point talks about it.

3. Cultivate a positive team environment:

A research from Harvard demolishes the notion that happiness is fueled by success. It deduces that in fact, it is the contrary. The more happier the person is, the more success he is tended to achieve.
The book "Optimistic Workplace" by Shawn Murphy talks about how creating a better workplace climate results in creation of meaningful and lasting workplace. He urges the companies to be employee centric and focus on energize employee potential.
Taking a leaf out from his book, you can create a common goal for everyone, divide into smaller groups and have measurable actions. The periodic updates create a unifying atmosphere as the interactions increase and there is a diversity of ideas too leading to innovation.

Now that the plans are in place, how to see they are successful?

4. Pursue a stress-free success mantra:

When working towards a goal, hiccups are common and disagreements with colleagues and team mates or bosses is more than common. In a hurry to chase success, everyone wants to implement their own idea disregarding the others which creates a stressful environment in the team. This in turn leads to unhappiness which finally shows in work.
So how to achieve a minimum stress state?
Basically a researcher,  Malcolm Gladwell, in his "Outliers: The Story of Success," highlights what needs to be done. In that, he talks about the principles followed by the successful people and tries to deduce a pattern. He stresses on the point of "group success paving way to individual success" and emphasizes on the principle of "practice makes a man perfect."
By using some ideas from the book, to be on the track of success, every one can pick up their own successful idol and try to implement what they have done. This gives the team members a sense of individual contribution, at the same time as working together as a team.

Finally, the time to unwind.

5. Take the necessary breaks:

Probably it is not the best place to mention about frequent load-downs when one is struggling to get the team to deliver. But after every successful milestone, there needs an unwinding for recharging the energy levels. Else the work becomes monotonous and innovation dries up.
In "The 4-hour Workweek," Timothy Ferris talks about the same. He compares the work-life balance in the old days to the new ones, where there is no time to do anything apart from work. He gives many shortcuts as to how to get the work done and simultaneously enjoy the life too. Although not all his hacks are user-friendly for all, there are many ideas that a smart one can pull out.
Like, taking the team on an outing occasionally to granting them personal leaves in emergencies, there are ways you can give them the necessary relaxing time and in turn get a zestful person back.

Hopefully, this article may have given you some ideas that you can take forward or pointed you towards a certain path. Share your ideas in the comments section and be that inspiration to others!

Disclaimer: This post is not an affiliation to any of the books or otherwise mentioned above. They are just given as an inspiration and reading suggestions!