Are We Brave Enough?

I was thinking about a confluence of things brought on by several posts or conversations:

Impetus: Dick Richards' book, Is Your Genius at Work? and the pressure/responsibility to be one's purpose.

Impetus: A conversation with a friendly competitor and thinking about the power of not seeing him/her as the competition.

Impetus: I was thinking about a few of the leaders I have worked with - great ones and lousy ones. And reflected on the essence of their differences.

Impetus: I sent in an inquiry to the new Virgin Galactic corporation - That's Branson's new space port for civilian travel being built in New Mexico.

Leadership and the potential to make a significance really boils down to courage.

• Approaching the situation from which others move away.
• Getting past internal smallness and defenses.
• Feeling a need - perhaps even a compulsion - to chart the unknown and push the envelope.
• Doing the right things in a human way to produce extraordinary results.
• Recovering from failure with more drive, not less.
• Believing in people's capacity for greatness.

99% or us are not great leaders, but we all have the potential for greatness. Do we have the courage become our purpose?  Do you believe that someone who has been a mediocre, or even lousy, leader for years can turn around and be great? I do. I have seen it. I have done it. Yes, there have been times that I was not courageous enough to lead and I still have some days or moments when I shrink. I can see that I can be either great or lousy in any situation and it is scary to think about that and take ownership for how I show up.

Every day there are lions and lambs. Are we brave enough to lead into our purpose?

Do you see how all the impetuses are related to courage? Recently, someone commented a couple times on an older post I did about leadership. You can read that here. The commentor brought up the nature versus nurture question. I had said in my post that leaders can be taught. He countered with the question that if leaders can be taught, why are there not more Jack Welches out there. Great question. I said that I thought most leadership training and development stunk.

How much time do we spend teaching and cultivating the various kinds of courage? I don't just mean the outward heroic stuff like we see every night on the news. I also mean the courage it takes to slay our internal dragons. The courage it takes to encourage others to lead. The courage to NOT take control. The courage to say what others think but don't utter.

Nature or nurture. I definitely think nurture. Leaders are made, unmade, and made again every day.

Comments

[Dick Richards]

Lisa -- my research, observations, and experience concerning leadership support your statement about, "the courage it takes to slay our internal dragons." In my own book about leadership, I wrote of how we do not develop our capacity to lead if we shy away from slaying our internal dragons, therefore failing to complete the hero's journey that Joseph Cambell described. That journey alone enables us to, in Campbell's words, "...battle past personal and local historical limitations...to teach the lessons learned..." If we do not complete the journey, we then remain emotionally and spiritually immature and unable to inspire others (lead) except by resorting to ego and fear-based "leadership" machinations and "spin". Completion of that inner journey requires, as you point out, courage.

I believe that what you are speaking of above is the single most important cause of a lack of leadership in our society today. It is why so many of those to whom we look for leadership fail us.

[Lisa Haneberg]

Dick - Thanks for your additional comments. Funny, as an OD consultant, I have read about and know about Campbell's work but I have not used it with clients because I worry they will find it too touchy feely. Perhaps I just need to get over this because there is a lot of value in the model. Maybe I will do a post on this to play with my own interpretation and articulation of the model.

Yes, a lack of courage to lead is what I see most. Good News: It is easy to correct. Bad News: It is only easy if the person sees what needs to be corrected and chooses to correct it.

[Adrian Savage]

Lisa - Just one item I'd like to add to your list, because it represents everyday courage as well as the spectacular kind. It's the willingness to do what you think is necessary, even when you don't want to. Just doing that regularly will transform your life. Self-discipline isn't a fashionable virtue, but that doesn't mean it no longer works. It also applies to everyone; but especially to leaders, whose duty it is to lead (else why are they there?).

[Lisa Haneberg]

Adrian: Yes, doing what we don't feel like doing is critical, although it really should not be. This should not be an issue. To me, the fact that this IS an issue tells me our selection, promotion, role clarity and expectations, and reinforcement is off. Great leaders do what others won't or don't.