Courage in Leadership
22 July 08 - 12:47
What does the word courage bring to mind for you?- Bravery?
- Knows no fear?
- Never back down from a scrap?
When I consider courage, I think of none of these things. The first and central thought that comes to mind is that courage is doing what is right despite your fear, misgivings, reservations or natural inclinations.
How does this apply to me in my role as the leader of my team?
Following are some scenarios where courage is required to lead.
1. A member of your team is not performing well. If you let it ride because the thought of taking that person aside and confronting the issues makes you intensely uncomfortable, are you doing any favours for them, your team, your business or yourself?
2. A client has overheated and has resorted to abusive and personal comments to one of your team members without cause. Do you fall back on the old saw 'the customer is always right', or do you come to the defense of your team member & attempt to diffuse the situation despite your natural inclination to avoid confrontation?
3. Courage may be a naturally quiet and even introverted leader stepping up to give a presentation to staff, management or prospective clients, simply because it is the best or right thing to do under the circumstances.
4. Other stakeholders or senior management in the business are making demands that your team has neither the resources or skills to deal with. Do you fold on the demands and do your best with your team to meet them (risking failure), or do you gather your evidence and data and with logic and reason explain why the demands are unrealistic?
5. Courage could also be backing down (even if you believe you are in the right) simply because continuing to push your point at that particular time could be much more damaging to your cause.
So, essentially courage in a leader is working past your fear or discomfort and doing what needs to be done. Remember this, do what needs to be done, and witness your team becoming more cohesive, loyal, hardworking and successful.
No comments:
No trackbacks:
You will need to enable javascript to generate a trackback link
