I love the work of Carol Dweck and the essence of this statement informs the importance of “challenging” as a critical business behaviour for a Courageous Leader:
“If you had to choose, which would it be? Loads of success and validation or lots of challenge? It’s not just on intellectual tasks that people have to make these choices. People also have to decide what kinds of relationships they want: ones that bolster their egos or ones that challenge them to grow?”
In my experience too many people prefer relationships that bolster their egos – where we operate within a façade and keep our conversations “safe”.
To grow and develop, leaders need conversations that challenge their thinking and behaviours. To receive this kind of insight, leaders have to be prepared to engage in conversations where they listen with the courage to really understand things from another person’s perspective – without blame, defensiveness or judgement.
Set aside a few moments to reflect on your relationships – do they bolster you to grow and develop?
