Dare To Lead

Several years ago I had to let someone go. She was a good person with a lot of talent. I liked her a lot, but unfortunately she wasn’t doing her job. I’d known it for a while and had spent hours working with her trying to turn the situation around. But even after I finally admitted to myself that the situation wasn’t ever going to get better, even when I reached the conclusion that no amount of coaching was going to help, it still took me several weeks to act. I knew all the right things to say and do, I just couldn’t seem to find the nerve. For what I needed at that moment were not facts or leadership techniques. What I needed was courage.

We don’t teach courage in our leadership training programs. We teach processes. We tell our leaders that it is their job to make difficult decisions, to be honest and open with their people, and to empower, grow and develop their staff. We build these behaviors into models such as “The four steps in dealing with angry customers”, “Ten techniques for handling difficult employees”, and “The advanced problem solving model”. We assume that if we simplify things enough, leadership will be easy.

But leading people is hard. Sharing control, being honest, and doing the right thing takes courage and we don’t often deal with courage openly.

I finally did take action on my non-performing employee and I and my organization were better for it. What I learned in the process was that people need courageous leaders. They need us to look past the tried and true, the politically correct and the absolutes of the personnel handbook and do the right things for them and for the business. They need us to move beyond our own fears and cautiousness and dare to lead.

When we lead courageously we gain professionally, but we also win personally. Because acting cautiously for too long, makes us fearful, diminishes our self-esteem and makes us rigid. On the other hand, acting courageously makes us braver, builds our self-esteem and strengthens our personal hardiness or ability to withstand hardship and change. It also keeps us young.

So, starting today, let’s stop and look at the actions we take and the decisions we make and determine what’s preventing us from leading more courageously. And, beginning today, let’s resolve to build our personal and professional courage by doing one scary thing a day. Or as one of my clients would say, “Get on the roller coaster!”

"Anything I’ve ever done that was ultimately worthwhile, initially scared me to death”- author unknown