Courageous Leadership

Recent activities at work have made an impression on me about the need for courage at work. Many of us I feel from time to time are confronted with difficult situations with no clear answer or path. Add to the dilemma pressure from organizations, other leaders, political correctness, or just brash aggressive colleagues, and making a tough decision becomes excruciatingly painful if not impossible due to circumstances.

Courageous leadership is a leadership characteristic and is extremely difficult sometimes to act on. As I have gone through many professional challenges in my career, the difficulty in using courageous leadership has been to rectify my personal leadership philosophy, my personal moral obligations, and my professional responsibilities to my organization. If you have not experienced this yet, hold on, it will come. I would surmise many reading this blog have already been involved with decisions which has exposed this conflict for you as a leader.

It is easy to understand where you connect courageous leadership with integrity. I would agree they are both symbiotic to each other and in many situations, synonymous. In the discussion on leadership, courageous leadership, I believe these two needed characteristics are separate and paramount to success.

Integrity is generally discussed as the characteristic of being honest, of fairness, and adhering to a specific moral code according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Followers and organizations want leaders who instill integrity, whose actions are guided by the principles of integrity, and who expect that from their followers.

Along with courageous leadership, integrity is a part of a new group of leadership personalities and traits which uses the term of character-based leadership. I believe many of the financial and organizational failures in recent years has been a result of using overused and only outcome based results in leadership decisions. These flawed leadership traits have proven do not create a balance and sustainable outcomes and neglect the impact of character-based leadership perspective.

Courageous leadership is a multifaceted, critical, and complex leadership characteristic. Even more challenging is to use it in today’s work environment. Organizational cultures, political behaviors and impacts, professional responsibilities, hostile work environments and leaders, and personal beliefs clash at times to make some simple decisions dramatically impossible to make.

Courageous leadership, I believe, can be discussed as the ability to look at a situation and to change your perspective from one of doing things right to one of doing the right thing. Simple enough it sounds, but in action, quite challenging many times. If it was easy, every leader would be doing it. It means the leader must exude great patience at times of crisis, critical thinking through the problem, transparency when decisions are made, and a realization of the internal conflict the leader has in making the decision.

The use of courageous leadership can become even more challenging as you discuss the situations with colleagues and mentors. The battle on engaging and using courageous leadership comes down to the conflict in the roles you as a leader hold and must balance. It does not become easier the more times you face it. But…the more you practice, the easier it is to identify the conflict and start working through a process to come to a decision. That decision is why you are the leader.

I would like to present to you Five Tactics for you to consider when you are faced with a difficult decision and courageous leadership is needed:

1. Patience. We live in a world of action. Immediate action. When making a decision which is complex, has critical implications if done incorrectly, or you know the answer will be contested no matter the decision you make, stop and be patient. You control the speed of your decision, and racing to an arbitrary deadline because someone dictates it takes the control and responsibility out of your hands for a respected decision. Show patience and make your decision deliberately, responsibility, and with confidence. This is your first step.
2. Critical Thinking. Now is the time to make your decision based on objective facts, provided by trusted counsel, and/or after you have gathered as much information as needed or possible to base your decision. Consider all angels of the discussion, ensure you are not falling victim to group think or undue influence by someone else’s agenda. This is time to put the nursing process into action. Look at the information available and then assess all options, diagnose what you see as the problem, look at your options and think through your plan, consider the impacts of each option implemented, and finally evaluate all courses of actions for the one which meets your objective.
3. Transparency. When you make your decision, you should be able to objectively and effectively explain how you came to your decision. Transparency in your decision will build a reputation as a leader who has a grasp of the important aspects and can intellectually consider all option. Practice discussing through your decision before you make your decision. This will allow you to see any flaws in your rationale and to be prepared to discuss why you didn’t choose other options.
4. Balance. Your courageous leadership will be put to the test when you have a conflict between your personal leadership philosophy, your moral obligations, and your professional responsibilities to the organization. The first 3 tactics will help you through making a decision. But ultimately your decision is going to have to weigh the impact to your philosophy, moral beliefs, and organizational support. Balance your decision so not to violate any of these 3 guiding principles in your decision making paradigm. There are times one will overshadow the others, but maintaining a balance as much as possible will help to reduce the conflict you will feel regardless of the outcome.
5. Resolution. Finally, you must come to terms and peace with your decision in the direction you take. You will find resistance from your supervisors or the organization, from colleagues, or subordinates. No doubt. Courageous leadership means you still make the decision and move on. It takes practice, it takes constant evaluation, and it means sometimes you will make the wrong decision. Resolve to learn from both the times you will make incorrect decisions and from the correct ones. Admit both failures and victories. Be comfortable, show courageous leadership, when providing your leadership input and impact to those around you.

Leading with you.

Dean

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