Leaders must demonstrate more and more managerial courage. But what is a courageous leader? A leader who takes risks? Who goes for it? Who decides?
The definition of what a courageous leader is has evolved. Yes, a leader must take his place, we talked about it in this article. We need to add to the definition of courage in a leader: vulnerability.
Here are 3 elements that demonstrate that you are a courageous leader and a list of elements that leaders who show courage do
1. A courageous leader is willing to challenge himself
It is a question of questioning oneself intelligently. That is to say, alone if you have a great capacity for introspection, with concrete and proven tools or with caring and competent people.
Surrounding yourself with the right people for a leader is essential, and surrounding yourself with positive people who contribute to your evolution is important.
The management role is a role that makes us grow as a person. It can be humanly difficult to hold a leadership position: many of our beliefs are visible, as are our flaws and our avenues for improvement!
For example, let’s say you’re a person who likes to have control over what they do and you deliver on time and quality. In fact, these will probably be reasons why you were appointed manager. But once in this role, you are criticized for not knowing how to delegate!
You must now learn to mobilize your teams, clarify your expectations and deliver on time and in quality… without doing it on your own!
Questioning yourself will take a certain amount of courage, right? Learn to let go, learn to communicate differently, better manage your stress, learn tools to better express your expectations for successful delegation, etc.
That said, not all leaders are willing to see and then want to change their behavior in order to improve the impact they have around them.
You have to be brave to take a step back, let yourself be coached, learn, see and admit your mistakes.
Finally, on this element, my experience shows that in my own journey to be a better manager, I have been training, I have made mistakes, I have received feedback, and I am convinced that if I had been accompanied by my boss, the organization, a mentor or a coach, it would have been faster. I saw it afterwards.
Since then, I’ve always found it smart to recover the knowledge of those who have been there before me, to save months, even years, by trying to learn by trial and error. Getting help is not lacking autonomy, for me it’s rather optimal and intelligent!
2. A courageous leader is authentic
Authenticity means acting in a way that is consistent with one’s values and convictions. In leadership, an authentic leader is himself, while showing openness. He usually expects his team members to do the same. This creates a human environment, where acceptance is at the center.
For this to work, you need a culture that lends itself to it and recruit consciously. In any case, if you recruit on the values, skills AND adaptability potential (agility) of a person, you will rarely make a mistake.
An authentic leader can appear independent, or even like someone who resists authority. It is usually necessary to have developed a certain self-confidence to show one’s vulnerability and authenticity.
And as in everything, it develops by doing so. So I invite you to talk about your values, convictions with people you trust and see where it will take you.
For example: Peter sees two unfair situations in his team. A) One employee works more than another. B) A colleague is set aside because he or she is not of the same ethnic origin as the others. Pierre feels that there is a conflict in his values and convictions. He decides to act (and not to react).
Taking action might look like:
- Peter wonders what is creating the conflict (or his frustration with a situation).
- He then wonders if adjusting the conflict will serve the team, the project and the organization or rather his ego. (If it’s only for your ego, move on!)
- He approaches the team with benevolent feedback such as: I see that <the facts>, and this is not in harmony with my values and those I want for the team. Here is what I want us to have as common <values: to name values>.
- He has an open exchange with his team, following the comment.
- Pierre makes sure to end the discussion with a clear understanding of my expectations on the value in question.
Reacting would be more emotional, or more ego-oriented. Reacting would be without reflection or analysis. Acting allows us to be in conscious action.
3. A courageous leader dances with uncertainty
A leader who shows courage will go ahead of her fears and insecurities in order to seek a truth or demystify a situation.
He does not live well with uncertainty, anxiety-provoking mental scenarios and judgments.
Example #1: Margot is almost certain that her fellow managers are acting in good faith, and at the same time takes advantage of her leadership style to confront situations in teams… even their own! She is starting to be demobilized and tired of this situation. On the one hand she can’t help but notice what could be improved in the other teams, on the other hand she tells herself that she is tired of carrying everything on herself.
She decides to clarify her colleagues’ expectations of her and to take stock of her requirements versus the demands of others.
Example #2: Guy is an entrepreneur. He is currently working with a small team. He has several positions to fill and finds the job market difficult. At the same time, many contracts came in. He doesn’t know if he will be able to deliver them. Rather than saying yes and living with risk, or saying no and missing opportunities, Guy decides to open up to his team about his dilemma and work together to generate ideas to take on more contracts in the current situation in addition to seeing how to recruit new people.
To dance and act better in uncertainty, you often have to cooperate and innovate!
If your environment includes a lot of uncertainty, you might like this article on leadership in times of uncertainty, click here.
In conclusion
A courageous leader:
- generates the difficult conversations to realign a project;
- admits his mistakes;
- take the first step;
- manages performance to better achieve objectives;
- say no to manage your priorities and energy;
- delegate even if the result will not be exactly as if he had done it;
- develops good self-knowledge;
- makes difficult, context-specific decisions;
- Turns fear into motor energy.
- questions himself;
- knows when they need help;
- develops the skills he lacks.
Two online self-training courses can support your professional development in terms of courage and vulnerability:
- To know oneself better (or To engage and mobilize one’s team , which invites them to know themselves and others better)
- Develop managerial courage and the ability to delegate (courage to act, to say, to decide, to delegate, to persevere and to develop self-confidence)
Build your courage one step at a time! Have any feedback or other skills on courage, feel free to comment below!