In this fortnightly series, Alison Glynn-Baker discusses some key concepts in Mandy Holloway’s book, ‘Inspiring Courageous Leaders’. She also poses some provocative questions. We invite you to provide your opinion and join the discussion.
“No one can answer for his courage when he has never been in danger” – Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Maxims
When I was completing school in South Africa, there was a story going around about a boy whose final English essay topic was ‘Courage’. After two hours he handed in the exam booklet, in which he had written the essay title and three words: “This took courage.” It is said he got a Distinction.
Was he lucky? Reckless? Or just very brave? What was going through his mind? And just imagine if he’d been failed instead of given an A?
Sticking to a script is easy. Facing down a blank sheet of paper and imprinting it with your own story is one of the most daunting things you will ever do.
Chapter 1 of Mandy Holloway’s book talks about what courage is for you. Courage is a very attractive word on paper. Its root is the Latin word ‘cor,’ meaning heart. Who wouldn’t act from the heart, you may ask? You’ll see at the end of each chapter that Mandy asks some Rattling Your Cage questions, designed to challenge your habits. And you might truly feel rattled as you ponder whether and how you are demonstrating courage as a leader.
Where do you currently fit in the organisation? If you are part of the top team, which shares overall accountability for the organisation’s outcomes, and have senior leaders reporting to you, then you are known as an existing leader.
If you are an emerging leader, you are managing people and working towards organisational outcomes. Emerging leaders report to existing leaders.
Mandy talks about a wedge of fear. This wedge prevents emerging leaders and existing leaders from having really necessary conversations with each other. What does this wedge look like? Discontent. Blame. Defensiveness. And even apathy.
And that blank sheet of paper? It’s a ledge of learning – a place where both parties start talking. Without a script. Over time people feel stable and supported in having those conversations. They become part of a united population of courageous leaders, connected to each other and committed to the future of the business. This creates a high-performance culture, and a wealth of personal and professional possibilities which you can only begin to imagine. We will talk about aninfinity of possibilities in the next blog when we explore the Courageous Leaders Model in more detail.
The Courageous Leaders Model helps you build your own personal framework and identify what courage means to you. You might even find it’s already one of your character strengths.
But it has to start with a single, as-yet-unwritten word.
As a leader, if you do something that takes courage, what does success look like? And what about failure? Can it really be said you have failed when you have been courageous? This is your chance to have your say.
Don’t have a copy of Inspiring Courageous Leaders? Buy it now
About Alison Glynn-Baker: Alison Glynn-Baker has 15 years’ experience in professional services marketing, business development and operations. Through her own consultancy, she has combined her two passions – training and writing – to help clients improve performance both personally and in business.
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