Unleash the Power of Your Legacy with More Inspirational Leadership
Dust yourself off and grab those big scissors over there.
You’re about to be the guest of honor at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The mayor is about to give you the key to the city and officially name the town after you. You know, for all that rootin’ tootin’ inspirational stuff you’ve been doing as the new sheriff in town.
So put on your Sunday’s finest, shine up your boots and your badge, and head on over to the square. Everyone’s waiting to hang on your every word and follow you onto the floor for some square dancing.
That’s right, we’ve got ourselves another installment of Legacy Louisa and the legacy leadership framework.
Remember, this is a story about how a new sheriff (aka a legacy leader) ran The Man (aka an old model of leadership) out of town and established a new frontier of leadership (aka legacy leadership framework) in the Wild West (aka male-dominated industries).
In another post, we talked about the authentic leader which is one quadrant of this framework. The authentic leader is high in authority but low in influence.
Today, we’re talking about another quadrant: inspirational leadership. The inspirational leader is high in influence but low in authority. (Don’t worry…we’ll get to talking about The Legacy Leader, which is high in both. That post is coming next. I promise.)
A Reminder: The Legacy Leader Framework Is For You
Before we dive into inspirational leadership, I want to remind you the ultimate goal of The Legacy Leader Framework is to become a Legacy Leader—the kind of leader people naturally want to follow, one who inspires their team and makes an impact.
If that resonates with you, consider yourself in the right place and at the right time to be entering this new frontier of leadership. This framework is especially for women in a male-dominated industry who want to lead with more authority, influence, and impact.
Today, we are honing in on being an inspirational leader, one with high levels of influence.
The Connection Between Influential and Inspirational
Let’s address influence first. The word “influence” has a rich etymological history that traces back through multiple languages and time periods. The Latin origin of the word influence, influere, means “to flow into.”
We can trace it from its Latin origins through the 13th century, the late 14th century, and then the 16th century. Over this word’s long history, the word "influence" evolved from a literal sense of flowing into or affecting something, particularly from celestial sources (a 13th-century idea), to a more abstract and generalized meaning of exerting power or effect.
It’s our modern usage of the word that associates the word influence as something outside of us which affects our character development or behavior. It feels like something external, something that happens to us, shaping our behaviors or decisions from the outside in.
But when I consider influence in the context of leadership, I think of it as much more than that—it's about breathing life into my team. It’s about infusing energy and purpose, creating an atmosphere where they feel inspired to join me in a shared mission. How do I channel that flow of energy into them so they’re on board with my vision?
I am of the opinion that you simply cannot focus on flowing energy into your team until you have started with that internal game of leadership—which is how the authentic leader fits in with all of this.
[Side bar: This also means you’ll have to confront the hidden leader which I’ll define in a separate post.]
When you’re able to discover who you are, embrace who you are, be confident who you are, and make imposter syndrome your superpower–all key pieces of authentic leadership–that’s the internal game of leadership. When that inner game is strong, you’ll start turning your attention outward. You won’t need to be concentrated on yourself any longer because you’ll feel at home within yourself. Which means you channel your energy externally, to your team.
As sheriff, you’ve got to stand in your full authority to do your job of protecting the town and all its citizens with confidence and healthy amounts of swagger. You’ve got to feel confident that you know when to draw your gun and when to keep it holstered. When to jump on your horse and chase after the bandits and when to hold your ground and stay put. When to give a warning versus when to handcuff the culprit.
Know how you choose to show up in your role with awareness, intention, and confidence and when you’ve got that squared away you can start thinking outside of yourself. You can start thinking about bringing on deputies and empowering them with some of the duties you’ve been bestowed. You engage them in watching over the own. You give them a level of agency and ownership in the same mission you all have: protect the town.
Wild west themes and sheriff metaphors aside, the point is you focus on you first, then others. But the more you stand in your power, the more of an example you are for others to stand in theirs. And as you channel (or flow) some of that confidence and charisma and energy to your team, you inspire them. What do we know about people when they’re inspired? They act. They move. They follow.
Being A Leader People Naturally Want To Follow
Influence is about breathing life into your team. It's not about manipulating people. It's about empowering people to reach their full potential and fostering a collaborative environment which makes you a leader people naturally want to follow.
Because you're doing all the right stuff as a leader to empower your team, they don't even notice that there's someone in greater authority than them (which would be you, their leader) because they feel like they're all part of the same group. As Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher, once said “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.”
So going back to the sheriff example where you bring on some deputies. You train them up. You give them the authority to take over a piece of the sheriff responsibilities. You make them feel confident they can do that piece, patrol the town line, and get any wayward traveler moving along without causing any mischief. They feel so proud of their duties and responsibilities and the badge they hold, they feel a part of the sheriff’s department even if the reality is the sheriff still holds more authority and influence than they do.
The question for you today is: how much time do you spend thinking about or worrying about how to inspire or drive your team? Now, maybe you're on your own. You're an individual contributor, or don't have a big team, or it's just you with some contractors…
Whatever your situation, the question to ask is how are you breathing life into the people around you? Because you can influence the people around you and be an inspirational leader no matter your title, position, or how many people surround you.
Ponder that for a moment while I tell you a story.
A Case Study: The Health Care Administrator Looking Out For Her Team
Let me tell you about Vicky, one of my clients. She was leading an affordable care organization during the pandemic and hadn’t taken a day off in 18 months. Under constant scrutiny from the press and the state legislature, her every move was under a microscope. The legislature held daily press conferences, and she had to respond to each one.
Here’s the interesting part: Vicky wasn’t fazed by the pressure. She knew her organization was doing everything possible to control costs and provide equitable, affordable services. She’d already done the internal work and needed help inspiring her team, including finding ways to give them much-needed time off.
Vicky didn’t just lead her organization through the pandemic; she transformed her leadership and empowered her team to do the same. Her story shows that real leadership is about embracing your authentic self and lifting others along the way.
Changing Our Focus From Us To Them
True confidence shifts our focus from ourselves to those we lead. Leadership starts from within, building inner confidence, and then naturally shifts outward to focus on others. When this shift happens, you’re no longer focused on yourself; you're focused on making a difference for others. That’s when you start making an impact—and building a legacy that endures.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
What I want you to focus on today is examining whether you’re ready for the outer game. Have you done the inner work and are ready to start flowing energy into your team? What have you tried already? What are you willing to? What kind of influence do you want to have? What kind of inspirational leader do you want to be?
Are you already standing strong in your role of sheriff? Are you ready to bring on some deputies? You don’t have to carry the one and only badge. You don’t have to do it all alone. In fact, you’ll be a better, stronger, and more inspirational leader if you don’t. And inspiring leaders are the ones who make impact and create a lasting legacy.
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If you’re ready to step into legacy-making leadership, you’ll need to level up your authority and influence. That’s why my Masterclass is so powerful. Learn to be the kind of leader people naturally want to follow AND be someone who doesn't just lead, but inspires a movement. Join me for this powerful webinar where you will learn three key strategies to be a LEGACY LEADER.
🐴 Pony up to my evergreen webinar Permission to Lead to learn the whole Legacy Leadership Framework so you, too, can embrace your authority, influence, and impact!
