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By David Cottrell and Eric Harvey
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Leadership Courage outlines eleven elements or actions of courage in a good leader. This book also has a wealth of leadership quotes from such leaders as Winston Churchill who stated: "Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others."
Summary of Leadership Courage:
Courage is an important element of successful leadership and is a common requirement of leaders. Leaders need to make tough decisions and take difficult actions, and courage gives you what it takes to get that accomplished.
Accept Responsibility—As a leader, we have to answer for our actions and often the actions of others whom we supervise. When things go wrong, courageous leaders accept responsibility for their actions as well as the actions of those in their team. They do not blame others, nor do they focus on the past. To become a courageous leader means you must realize that accepting responsibility is not optional—it is mandatory.
Create Positive Change—There are few leadership responsibilities more stressful or difficult to implement than change. People resist change because it is out of their control and represents the unknown. As a leader, it is your responsibility to steer the ship or drive the bus. In order that you do this successfully, you must first have built trust with your team. Once that is accomplished you will be ready to explain the "whys" and "whats" of the change to your team. This is the beginning of the journey of making change happen.
Hire and Promote the Best—All leaders have a common desire to fill new or vacant positions with good people. Therefore, the hiring process is not one to take lightly or to be rushed. Do not fall in the trap of just hiring a warm body, and do not lower your standards just to have a person on board. As a leader, hiring the right staff member is one of the most important jobs you have. Getting the right people on the bus is key to having a productive team.
When hiring, look for people who are honest, have integrity and respect, will make good team players, and are dependable. If you want a team player, listen for the word "we" during the interview process. Be sure that the position description is correct, and that you are hiring for tomorrow's job.
Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing—Determine the specific goal or job direction you want your team to achieve, and then dedicate the team to attaining that goal.
Communicate to Build Understanding, Support, and Acceptance—Sixty (60) percent of all management problems is failure to communicate. Communication is the most powerful tool the leader will find in the "leadership tool box." Most often, we as leaders do not need to communicate more but rather better—quality communication. Watch for communication killers such as ambiguity, confusion, conflict, mistrust, and inconsistency.
Become an Effective Coach—Teams are composed of three (3) performance groups all of which need effective coaching from their leader:
•Super Stars—individuals on your team who are consistently outstanding and do excellent work. Too often we, as leaders, overlook these individuals and fail to recognize and coach them. They want both. We, as leaders, need to be aware of this or we will lose these super stars.
•Middle Stars—this is about 50% of those who we supervise. Some days they perform their job in an excellent manner, and other days not so well. It is important that we continue to build confidence in them so they will strive to be successful, and coach them on becoming consistent, excellent performers.
•Falling Stars—our teams have few of these individuals, but they have a negative impact on the whole team. Leaders need to have courage and confront "falling stars" about their low performance and work with them to become productive, or to council them out of the job.
Addressing Interpersonal Conflicts—Do not be a confusing leader. Do not ignore the "mole hills." The longer a conflict is allowed to exist, the more costly it will be to fix. Most conflicts could have been resolved if quality communication had been in place. Have the courage to confront conflict and be part of the process in resolving the issue.
Confront Performance Problems—More often than not, leaders lack the courage to be honest with employees when conducting annual performance appraisals or evaluations. This is especially true when the performance is limited to once a year. Performance reviews should be a summary of prior conversations held through out the year regarding the employee's work. If it is a negative review, "crucial conversations" need to occur immediately. There should be no surprises.
Be Optimistic—Optimism is a courageous state of mind. It is a person's desire, effort, and choice to accept and make the best of a difficult situation(s). An optimistic leader believes that defeat is a temporary setback. They work toward finding something positive, and are hopeful in what appears to be the hopeless situation. There are three (3) keys to maintaining optimism as a leader:
1. Attacking worry with purposeful action.
2. Surrounding yourself with positive people.
3. Looking for the best in others and yourself.
Become the Best You Can Be—Courageous and successful leaders know that it is vital to be committed to personal improvement, and the importance to continue to grow their skills, knowledge, and experience. This is also true in their staff; and, good leaders promote and provide resources in order that staff/team reaches this goal.
Create a Culture of Ethics and Integrity—Courageous leaders have no choice but to be positive role models for their employees/team. It is the leader's responsibility to get all members of the team on board regarding ethical business practices and performing the job with integrity.
In summary, effective leaders share many characteristics but the two most important are:
1. Having the courage to make tough decisions
2. Being willing to make personal sacrifices for the good of the whole or to benefit others.
Keshaven Nair stated, "With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity." Leadership Courage takes us on that journey and those beyond.
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