How To Be A Courageous Leader

Many leaders unknowingly seek what the Cowardly Lion did in the Wizard of Oz: Courage.

Courage. It sounds like such a simple thing—a kindergartner thing. After all, we learn that kind of stuff as a kid, don’t we? To stand up for what is right, to protect the weak and innocent—it’s what heroes are made of! We think courage in terms of a more modern definition: bravery. Images that come to mind are firefighters, soldiers, maybe a Superhero…

Looking more deeply into the etymology of the word we discover the Latin root – cor – heart. Courage is about living from the heart; motivated and fueled by something deep within. Courage is speaking and acting from the inner strength grounded in our heart. It originally meant “To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.”

Courage in An Organization

We need people in organizations who believe and act with that definition of courage. Imagine working for and with courageous leaders who speak their mind by telling all their heart?

Once a leader becomes courageous, the possibilities of greatness are endless. With the courage to do what is right – or rather, what is efficient, or effective – specific actions and processes could be put in place to increase morale and productivity.

Think of the change they could make throughout the organization! And change is 100% necessary to the growth of an organization. How can an organization reach the height of its potential if it stays stagnant? The correct answer is, it can’t. Leaders must instill that change and be courageous and confident enough to carry it through.

In this series, we will go through what each leader must accomplish to be courageous. Here is a quick preview of what is to come!

A Courageous Leader Must…

  1. Face Reality – It’s not easy to face all the problems in your organization, especially when it involves team members (and it almost always does), but it is imperative to acknowledge those pain points. Without acknowledging the problem there is absolutely nothing you can do to solve it.
  2. Speak the Truth – Identifying those problems isn’t enough. You need to be able to speak up and tell the truth. Skirting the truth or not telling the whole truth to avoid some conflict or save one person’s feelings affect productivity and certainly, the bottom line.
  3. Do What is Necessary – Actions speak louder than words, and that’s all there is to it. People can talk all day about the problems, but if no change is implemented because you, the leader, don’t possess the courage to take action, then that’s on you.

Can’t wait for the rest of the series and want to become a courageous leader today? Contact Nexecute and get the coaching you need to step up and be a leader that instills change.

Get started today!