Courage of Leaders

In 2005, after gaining some presence in the corporate world, I sat down to my pen my thoughts on leadership, casting reflections if it is an art or science?.  Much has been said and written of leadership, yet to many it still invokes ambiguity, misunderstanding and delusion. For me, leadership is a learn-able art that is accessible by anyone, if they chose to. And, when I saw the abyss before my eyes, I felt compelled to write about it. 

Instead of a long list of leadership competencies, I articulated 3 simple and easy to follow qualities of leadership 101. The acronym is KCC and you can read  it, here

After 7 years, have I changed my viewpoints on leadership? Negative. However, if asked to review it, I would rearrange the order differently – Courage, Compassion and Knowledge (CCK). Why?.    

First of all, given my blog name and associated spirit, it should come as no surprise why I am saying courage ought to be front runner or foremost quality for leadership. Yes, I know it is a chicken and egg argument. Some can say knowledge is more important, without which a leader may not be aware, informed or wise to know what to do or how to be?. My point is – even knowledge must, first, be sought. And, one needs courage to seek it. Perhaps, you may want to call it desire, hunger, motivation, or something else. I aggregate it as courage.

The other counterpoint is that knowledge is only as good as it’s application. To know is different from to do. It is only in the doing and applying, that knowledge can serve meaning. To quote Johan Goette, “Self-knowledge is best learned, not by contemplation, but by action. Strive to do your duty and you will soon discover of what stuff you are made”. Herein, lies the greatest test of leadership.  Leaders are linked to inspiring people towards visions, mission and goals. But, why do many leaders perform miserably in this area?. How come leader’s struggle to translate strategies and tactics into actions, requiring new thinking and behaviours?. To effect change in people, especially in a fear driven organisational culture is difficult, to say the least. So, I always ask, “what must change to the leadership model or formulae to turnaround the outcome? 

Spiritual Intelligence (SI). Courage is born out of SI, which steers people into action.  Acting as a compass, SI navigates a person towards true north, in making judgment calls. Everyday leaders face challenging situations, requiring problem solving and decision making. And, often leaders have to summon courage to overcome the fear of negative consequences. I was quite surprised when the late Stephen Covey came out with 8th Habit. I thought the ultimate book on leadership was written. Did he sense a big missing link to the leadership challenge in the 21st century, when he cited, “SI is the central and most fundamental of all the intelligences because it becomes the source of guidance of the other three. SI represents our drive for meaning and connection with the infinite”. It helps us discern true principles that are part of our conscience”.

The essence of SI is conscience, which is instinctively unique only to the human species. It is the repository of principles like courage, integrity, respect, kindness, fairness, etc. And, I feel it takes great courage to use conscience when the going gets tough. Courage feeds the moral authority and freedom of power to act in the interest of principles and values. Courage in leaders requires some level of sacrificial commitment - to forgo selfish and egoistical interests for collective interests of stakeholders.  They need courage to question and seek the truth in calibrating and realigning personal and team values with organisational values. With courage, leaders can promotes trustworthiness among followers and build an open, safe, positive and healthy workplace.
 

Post Communication.  "Communication is the real work of leadership," says HBS professor Nitin Nohria. I first read Aristotle’s Logos, Pathos and Ethos in 7 habits. (I will leave Logos (Logic) and Pathos (Emotions) for another post). Ethos is about appealing to sense of values. And, how does it link to courage?. Well, how about looking at where it matters most – after communicating? I am not talking of listening or NLP skills. I am referring to an even more critical communication skill, “walking the talk”. Failure at “Leadership by Example”, is probably the top most deficiency listed by employees and biggest contributor why introducing change does not last. Again, it takes courage to follow through words, values, goals, actions and even behaviors like coming to meetings on time. Believe me, mocking the  “walk the talk” is one of the top water-cooler discussion?. And, the worst part is, they consciously close the double loop learning.

Jenny (not real name), an Engineer worked at the same place where I did. One day, unhappy with her supervisor (Richard), she resigned. On her last day of work, her supervisor caught her photocopying some design drawings, which were classified documents. When confronted, she argued in saying it was her work and she had rights to it. Richard stopped her and reported the matter to the top management. After performing an audit trail, he provided a long list of the files that Jenny had downloaded over a period of 2 weeks. 2 months later, Richard left the company, due to better career prospects. Unbeknownst to me, a month later the top management rehired Jenny but relocated her overseas !.

Does courage matter?. (3 months later I left the company)  

Upward Management. We have the wisdom of knowledge that says managers focus on efficiency and leaders on effectiveness. We also know for certain that effectiveness must come before efficiency and productivity. Yet, how come leaders grapple with this ubiquitous common sense?. Because to know and not to do, is really not to know. Recall the time when leaders stood up against unethical, hypocrisy, immorality, injustice, corruption, political incorrectness and other toxic practices that inflict damage to operational effectiveness and organizational results?. Between career survival and moral courage, the side a leader chooses would pretty much sum up the character. You can have all the knowledge you want, but it would not matter without the courage to apply it effectively. They say, you reap what you sow. Likewise, without courage, knowledge will remain a matter of latent energy without seeing it’s potential yield.                

Leaders are constantly put in difficult spots to make tough decisions. You can either speak the truth without fear or favour and, thereby, earn your self-respect and that of your fellow peers and followers. Or, hold your tongue from saying what could displease your boss, and thereby, risk your future career survival. And, of course, there is that safe zone ‘grey” area, which affords to buy time in picking a side or to move on.     

Time and again, we have acknowledged that “you cannot manage people, you can only lead them” Then, how come we have such hard time entrenching and en-culturing it in organisations, even in the most affluently successful ones?. That’s because it takes great courage to standby the very same values and principles leaders preach to others. And, it takes even greater courage to do so, in the face of daunting odds, unpleasant certainties and untoward consequences.                      

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage"

(anais nin)