Courageous Leadership

The truth is, I almost didn't write this blog. Or more accurately, I almost didn’t want to write it.

I was hesitant to further add my voice to what is becoming an increasingly widening field of articles, opinions, and experiences about Leadership in the 21st Century – ideas that, while continuing to holding a significant amount of value for up-and-coming and inveterate leaders, tend to be more or less critical reiterations of the same point. The ultimate price of poor leadership is too exorbitant i.e. financially, professionally, and personally.

After all, what else could I say?

However, when I reflected on why I started adding my proverbial two cents to this account, I could not escape the stark reality that if we are to be serious about effectively inculcating good qualities – integrity, determination, vision, compassion – within leaders of today, then we have to be honest with ourselves in discussing (and resolving) the plaguing underlying issues.

Despite all the articles that encourage and guide leaders to become better, so many of us continue to miss the mark. So, it’s either that we’re not understanding what makes for better leadership or we don’t care to improve. I don’t believe either of these to be the case.

So what then? What is it that keeps so many of us from becoming our better selves as leaders and, more importantly, as team members. What is it that so many of us continue to get wrong here?

Quite frankly, the word “leader” is so casually used these days that almost anybody can be described as a leader. We frequently affix words like “innovative”, “powerful”, and “gifted” to the word “leader” and then, in the same breath, consider any CEO, Managing Director, Politician, Celebrity or Star Athlete a leader.

Success and accomplishment are often included in that mix. On the surface, when the topic of leadership is raised, it appears that anyone who is successful is a leader. But success is no more a qualification for leadership than title or position is.

But I didn’t want to talk about what the definition of leadership is. Instead, I wanted to explore what defines a leader. Or more specifically, what is it about the best leaders that separates them from the rest. What is it that drives the best of us to truly embrace and embody the roles and responsibilities before them.

So let me ask you this. What is it about a true leader than earns them the respect of many? What is it about those people willing to make the necessary sacrifices that places them above the rest? What assures us that the CEO or Managing Director will make the personal tough calls for the sake of the organisation and the team? What is it that motivates the politician to risk losing to say and act upon the right thing for something they believe is important, no matter what voters might think? What is it that drives that celebrity or star athlete to sacrifice the fame and fortune if it means using their power to advance a cause greater than themselves?

What pushes them forward is what keeps so many of us back.

Fear. Failure. Criticism.

Many leaders know the right thing. Sadly, many lack the courage to do so, primarily because we are kept back by Fear, Failure, and Criticism.

I believe that these three are major players in defining leadership in the 21st Century. Many of us continue to struggle with them because, like every human being, we are naturally averse to them.

Leaders are driven individuals, who, when all eyes are upon them, become doubly sensitive to the repercussions of fear, failure, and criticism. In fact, the more driven and invested a leader is in their team’s successes, the more affected they become by those three factors.

But the inalienable truth is you do not become a successful leader without having experienced fear, criticism, and failure along the way. An even bigger truth is how fundamental they are in our growth and learning.

Being at the helm can sometimes feel like being at the front. We become so invested in leading our people that we cannot separate ourselves from the whole. What happens next is often catastrophic.

Fear, Criticism and Failure come in many forms. We can be afraid to be wrong, afraid to make someone angry, afraid to try something different, afraid to and of change. Fear prevents many of us from doing a great many things - especially the right things.

Failure can present itself as bad decisions, recruiting persons ill-suited to the tasks at hand, underperformance, inconsistency, and poor communication. The list is inexhaustible. However, there is no progress without struggle; and no struggle without setback. Just because failure is inevitable doesn’t mean that we should hold ourselves victim to it.

Life teaches us that when we make mistakes, we own them. What is often missed out is the fact that we must also be as prepared as we possibly can for failure and make adjustments along the way to deal with and avoid it in the future.

Finally, as a leader, criticism is something you should expect. So my best advice would be to get used to it. Or better yet, take it a step further: get out in front of it. Being self-aware is an essential quality of a great leader. Criticism, whether right or wrong, harsh or fair, is bound to happen. It’s an obvious fact that we will not know all the responsibilities of a leadership role, so shortcomings will be greater highlighted than capabilities and skills. Take each criticism as a motivating force and learn from it. Or better yet, learn to learn from it.

It is all well and good to write about facing fear, failure, and criticism head on, as a great way of surmounting them. However, this is often easier said than done. This is why the foundation of any purpose-filled leader is courage; the courage to manage the things we can and lead the people we must. This is why we should strive to be courageous leaders.

The Case for Courageous Leadership

A strange word, courage. It is a word that conjures up different images for different people. For me, it is the image of David battling Goliath; the underdog standing up to the bully; an indefatigable spirit; bravery and grace under fire.

Bill Hybels, in his book “Courageous Leadership,” sought to link courageous leadership with religion and moving people closer to God, but however noteworthy that ambition, courageous leadership is considerably more than that. And it is in considerably short supply.

Courageous leadership starts from within. Courageous leadership starts with believing in yourself and your self-worth. If you start there, you will not feel threatened by those around you. You will not feel that you need validation from outside because you would have found all of your validation from within.

This is important because courageous leadership is only evident when someone arrives at a fork in the road. A fork in the road at which the choice is between taking the correct but difficult route or playing it safe and taking an easier route. This could include having an uncomfortable conversation with an errant individual, a less than complimentary but deserved performance appraisal feedback, communicating when you don't have all of the answers, asking uncomfortable questions and making a decision to move ahead with new activities.

Courageous leadership is most needed in tough situations. And the main reason it would not be displayed is Fear, Failure and Criticism.

Courageous leaders are not born; they evolve. However, there is a difference between courageous leaders and bullies. There is a difference between courageous leaders and insensitive leaders. The difference lies in the how. The difference lies in the why. The difference lies in the self-confidence. Fear of the unknown, fear of being perceived as a failure, fear of criticism, fear of rejection, fear of victimisation ....these are the fears that paralyse courage.

“I Can’t Do It”

This simple sentence is hard for many of us, as leaders, to say. Somewhere, somehow, it became a bad thing for leaders to admit their shortcomings. Perhaps, inherent in the word “leader” is a concept of infallibility; the belief that as a leader you would have all the answers, and would know exactly what to do or say in any given situation at any given time.

But every day, all around the world, there are people who are standing up against oppression, demanding equal rights, challenging the established ways that our society operates. Think again about David and Goliath.

They may not have great resources – in fact, they may not have any resources at all. But what they all have is the will to succeed in the face of adversity – whether that challenge comes from within or without. They are willing to stand up for what they believe, sacrifice whatever they have, because the alternative is simply unacceptable.

Most of all, they are (and have to continue to be) willing to say, “I can. We can.”

I believe the key element of courageous leadership is thinking differently about many of the issues that keep us back in our personal and professional lives. What’s more, it is about taking the necessary steps to inspire and help others to do the same.

We have all seen what happens when we give in to fear, failure, and criticism. However, we won't evolve to overcome them unless we acknowledge their impact on us and their presence in what we do. This requires inner strength. Be honest with yourself first ...have that uncomfortable inner conversation first ... give yourself that less than complimentary performance self-appraisal first, ask yourself the uncomfortable questions first and then make that self-decision when you don't have all of the answers ...make that decision to be courageous. You won't regret it!

Always remember: Manage the things you need to manage – Fear, Failure, and Criticism – but lead the people you are supposed to lead. They are counting on you.