Archive for the ‘courage’ Category

Courage is a favorite topic when experts write about leadership. Often the kind of courage they write about is the big, bold stuff of legends: climbing Mount Everest and leading the team down safely in intrepid weather; safely landing a plane on the Hudson River; turning a company around against long odds.

I can`t deny that this kind of courage inspires me. However, there is another kind that inspires even more. It`s behind the scenes ?€“ and we tend to miss it. It doesn`t get headlines. It is not considered big, bold, or legendary. But yet it is HUGE in terms of transforming your leadership.

Before I describe this kind of courage, let`s consider that the word “courage” comes from the French word for “heart”. This kind of quiet, invisible courage is the kind that I am blessed to observe in the best leaders through the work we do, and it comes from the heart. And not coincidentally, it is this type of courage that encourages a leader to create and sustain the relationships required to do the big, bold stuff of legends.

What is this type of courage?

So what is this “type of courage”? Are you ready? The quiet, hidden courage that I am speaking of is the courage to look at oneself and make the changes necessary to be a legendary leader. Seems kind of anti-climactic compared to landing a plane on the Hudson.

But yet ?€“ I know leaders (and you do too) who are in self-denial about their bad or mediocre behavior. Or others who are unwilling to take a look at themselves through reflection, assessments or feedback from others.

Courage to look at yourself sustains you for the big stuff

Choosing the path of leadership is a personal (as well as professional) journey. It requires a great deal of toughness, persistence, and heart to make it work. It is a never ending path that takes ongoing learning, including some of the hardest lessons imaginable; sometimes against all odds. The best leaders know themselves well, and this knowing gets them through the tough times.

I`ll bet that Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, the courageous pilot who landed the plane on the Hudson, has done the courageous work of introspection. I`d wager a bet that he`s had the courage to look at and understand his strengths and gaps. I`m willing to bet that knowing those strengths and gaps were instrumental in his ability to stay calm and to save many lives.

So choose the leadership path with care. It isn`t easy. In order to be great at it, you must look inside and do the inner work required. And this requires great courage (the quiet kind).

I spend time “behind closed doors” with leaders, listening to things that they wouldn’t necessarily tell anyone else. Sometimes, I am able to hear things that others may not hear.

One of the things I hear when I listen well is the courage it takes to be a leader. We often don’t stop to notice the seemingly small, everyday actions our leaders take because their behavor is clouded by the folklore of leadership. We expect them to part the waters and make the impossible happen, when realistically, many are showing courage in small but significant ways all of the time.

As an executive coach, I have a view of leadership courage that rarely has to do with making water part. I am often struck by how difficult it is to do the every day stuff that makes a leader, a leader.

Some examples of courageous acts that never cease to astound me include:

• Standing up for an employee when nobody else will;
• To delicately “coach” the boss;
• To alter one’s own behavior in ways that can be uncomfortable but is for the “greater good” of the organization;
• To give credit for success away to others.

Even now, when the photos of dejected Lehman employees carrying their boxes out of their offices is fresh in our minds, it is wise to remember that there are lots of good leaders out there. When boss-bashing seems to be the norm (and in many cases, it is deserved), it becomes important for us to recognize that there are good people trying to lead their organizations and communities in the best ways they know how under very difficult circumstances. And because the stuff of everyday leadership seems insignificant, these leaders do what they do without notice, much less thanks or praise.

Being a leader, by its very title, can be a lonely job. It sometimes pays well, but not always. It can be gratifying, but more often, it is just plain hard work. It requires taking risks that can transcend an individual and put him or her in personal peril.

Maybe I’m stepping out on a limb here. But I when I listen from behind closed doors, I hear just how hard it is to do the job of “leadership”, let alone do it well. Lets spend some time looking for what our leaders are doing right and celebrating their courage.