Courage is Calling

Business school professors have tried to identify the precise mixture of qualities and aptitudes that constitute great leadership.

Many qualities thus identified seem to land on opposite ends of the spectrum. For example, great leaders are both bold and carefully calculated. They possess audacious vision but operate with humility. They are both empirically savvy and trust their gut. They are fierce but also tender.

There is one quality of great leadership that stands alone with no opposing quality to balance it out. This one leadership characteristic exists in great leaders regardless of industry or sector: Courage. Courage is one of the qualities we most admire in the leaders we admire most.

Courage, more than any other quality, establishes leadership. Consider the life of David from the Old Testament. It took a moment of heroic courage to solidify his leadership among the people.

Goliath, the giant philistine, was making a mockery of the Israelites. Even their best warriors were not up to the task of facing the giant. David arrived late on the scene and when he entered camp David noticed all the men had fled in fear. They were hiding in their tents and none were willing to fight.

David was not like the other men. His courage ran deep and his trust in God ran deeper. Courage and faith often go together. No wonder David was considered a man after God’s own heart.

Saul tried to give David his armor. Others tried to convince him not to fight but David’s courage could not be deterred. He faced Goliath with only a slingshot and a handful of stones. It was this defining moment that established David’s leadership. He did publicly what the other men privately wished they could do but didn’t have the courage or the faith.

We’ve all had to deal with bullies. Maybe you are dealing with an overbearing boss that bullies his staff.  A friend of mine told me about a recent situation that called upon his courage. There was a series of emails going back-and-forth amongst co-workers. Using disembodied words to communicate jugular issues is hardly a wise idea but using capital letters, exclamations and emoticons makes it worse.

This email trail was spiraling into something quite nasty and personal. Rather than passively sitting back, or contributing to the gossip, he went to the person that was causing the most friction and spoke directly with him.

It was an act of courage to get out of his office and have the curcial conversation. It was even more courageous to carry himself with such an elevated level of emotional intelligence.

He balanced the need to empathize and be considerate of the other person and at the same time advocating his position and having the courage to say the difficult things. This act of courage established his leadership within his team and throughout the organization. Courage is contagious. It seems to be transforming the situation as well.

Too many times situations like the one described are left unaddressed. They fester because of fear.

Because culture is determined by what we reward and what we tolerate, as leaders, we must move with courage into these situations.

I wrote more about leading difficult conversations here.  You might find additional food for thought.

So, can you recall a ‘personal best’ moment in your leadership where courage was key?