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Leadership Courage
Leading people is a paradoxical feat. We say we want one thing from leaders and then ask for something else altogether that seems contradictory. Leading is a balancing act. It is finding balance between the needs of the people and the needs of the organization. It is accelerating decision-making but being collaborative (which can be slow). It requires that you are empathetic and compassionate while holding people accountable to their goals. Leaders regularly get confused and overwhelmed and wonder where to start. According to Bill Treasurer, the author of Courage Goes to Work, you should start with courage. I couldn’t agree more!
Managerial courage – it’s usually associated with making tough decisions or having crucial conversation during difficult circumstances or with difficult people. According to Korn Ferry Leadership ArchitectTM some of the reasons people have lower skill in this area are because they fear being wrong, fear losing, fear getting emotional or fear being out in front. Almost all of the cited reasons revolve around fear.
True courage is understanding that it is natural to feel fear as an emotion. It is also important to know that when we are afraid we often exaggerate the possible outcomes. We misjudge the probable dangers and underestimate the potential rewards of stepping forward and doing it scared. Fear, in essence, is interference. It is getting in the way of leaders doing the things that stand to improve business outcomes and increase workplace engagement.
Korn Ferry almost makes me sad when they also share that not only is courage in low supply and that leaders generally are unskilled in the courage competency; it is much harder to develop courage muscle.
Almost!
Courage, just like anything else, is a teachable and learnable skill. And as one of my favorite leadership coaches Alan Fine professes, we all have the capacity to improve our level of performance. Courage is not excluded in that statement. People have the capacity to be courageous. Our job is to remove the interference that fear causes by
- taking a look at our personal courage history
- learning how to remove the interference related to fear
- understanding our own purpose and values so we can align to the things that matter most to us.
Our current times are calling for courageous leaders who will stand up and stand out for attempting to understand the basic human condition of falling short sometimes. This is a compassionate leader who thinks first about how he or she can take an additive approach that is helpful. It will require that you do it scared sometimes but the benefits far outweigh the risks.
About the Author
Nicole Price understands that if leadership is anything, it is personal, and that everyone can be a great leader. So she gets personal. Nicole’s transparency allows others to learn from her mistakes and helps them avoid the same pitfalls. She gets real. She will tell you, yes, having differences within a team can be harder, but that hard work can really pay off — both professionally and personally. And she gets wise. She’ll tell you, in a heartbeat, how she’s gotten a few things wrong over the years, but a little grace and some solid coaching saved her.
Through leadership development, coaching, consulting, keynotes, and other resources, Nicole encourages and enables others to live their lives in excellence. Her energetic and engaging sessions leave participants with strategies and specific tools that they can apply right away. Her lively presentation style garners rave reviews and, very often, an invitation to return. Nicole received her B.S. in chemical engineering from North Carolina A&T University and her master’s degree in adult education from Park University.
Leadership Courage
Some days it’s easier to just sit back and take the road that’s been most trampled. Not sure Robert Frost would approve, but there is safety in a well carved out path…regardless if you know where it may lead. You take comfort in that decision because everyone else is heading in the same direction so you can merely put your arms out there and ride the swell. There are few obstacles because they have been removed by those in front of you. You have anticipation about what’s ahead because of the stories that are shared by your “path predecessors”. But, what if the road you are on is the wrong one? What if it’s going to a place that you don’t want to go? What then? How do you gain the clarity and courage to make a turn which could make the difference between a breakthrough innovation and losing ground?
As leaders, the key is not whether we choose the right road to begin with, but how long we stay on a dead-end path before we decide to forge a new one.
With any journey, we must have some clarity about the environment we are traveling in. In the business context, this is environmental scanning, understanding what’s around us in terms of our competitive threats and challenges, our opportunities to leverage our capabilities more efficiently, and, an understanding of any potential needs that are unfulfilled in the marketplace. All these are the signs on any path that many would miss but a proper navigator, or business leader, would notice and study and act upon.
Assess the terrain…current and ahead
What will happen if we take the road less traveled? Who will be impacted and in what ways? What if the idea doesn’t work? Or, sometimes worse, what if it does and your idea is wildly successful?
Lead with confidence and passion.
Passion can create mercy for a multitude of flaws. When we lead with passion, we believe in our actions and, more importantly, the outcome of those actions. If we can see the future and have a picture of what that looks like for the organization, we can begin to communicate the story of this view of the future and the path to get there with passion. When we communicate vision passionately, it is compelling and others can’t help but to join in achieving the common vision. Passion also implies that we have some alignment between our own personal beliefs about the vision and the goals of the organization.
Forge (and Forage) ahead
Once you’ve assessed the situation and made the decision to change course, stand behind your decision. This is different from defending. When you stand behind your decision and it’s a good one, you don’t have to hold it up to defend it. You’ll find that it stands on its own so that you can take a step back and throw out a few questions of your own while you answer inquiries from others. Be honest about the vulnerabilities of your decisions, that will help others to gain confidence that you’ve thought things through. Admit the risk in the course of action. Continue to learn along the path picking up nuggets to use when appropriate.
Leading courageously requires a spirit for adventure that not only expects, but empowers, your employees to consider taking a less populous route. In building this team of pioneers you must lead with conviction, passion and vision. Plotting the course to success is only half the journey. Providing directions through the obstacles and the set-backs effectively is what sets good leaders apart from great ones.
Enjoy the journey!
Kimberly Young
Executive Director