“I’m not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep: I’m afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”
Alexander the Great
American author and academic, Brené Brown was in Australia recently and spoke to sold out audiences across the country. Her key message? “The thing that we are missing right now is courage in leadership.” What is courage and why do we need courage to truly lead?
We show courage when we do something that we fear or that we’d rather not do. Ambrose Redmoon said “courage is not the absence of fear, rather the judgement that something is more important than the fear.” I have been teaching for years that strong leaders do things every day they wish they didn’t have to. Weak leaders cut corners, put things off and let things get worse. Good leaders realise that what comes with the responsibility of leadership is doing stuff that we simply would rather not do, but we do them because they are the right thing to do. Often, the right thing to do is also the hard thing to do. We sometimes take the easy way out, even that it’s the wrong thing to do.
So, what as leaders, do we fear, that we don’t do, that holds us back? Most of us want to be liked, but occasionally we are called on to make decisions that aren’t popular with others. Do we compromise the decision in order to maintain our friendly status with others? A courageous leader makes the right decision and hopes that respect will come first, and if like follows, that’s a bonus.
A strong leader makes their expectations of others crystal clear. They then follow up with feedback on performance, both good and bad. They provide regular and honest assessment, even if it’s awkward. Brené Brown says people fear being unkind, yet avoiding difficult conversations is more unkind in the long run. “Clear is kind, unclear is unkind” she says. Strong leaders take difficult conversations in their stride, knowing that delaying or avoiding them risks things getting worse.
Courageous leaders say no. Most of us are time poor. In the pursuit of trying to do everything we think we should do or are asked to do, we over commit and inevitably let others down. Our reputation suffers and people may find it hard to trust us. Courageous leaders are clear about the things that matter most – the essential things that will take them and their people forward and they say no to the rest.
A key point in your development as a strong leader is to realise that you will have to do stuff that you wish you didn’t. The lion in you will show courage and make the tough decisions, have the difficult conversations, say ‘no’ more often and risk not being liked. To do anything else would be sheepish.
