I've coached a lot of senior leaders now and have learnt something pretty surprising.
Here's the thing. All leaders are scared. You might think that courageous leaders are out there slaying it all the time full to the brim of confidence, clarity and conviction. I've coached enough senior leaders now to know that they feel fear regularly. Just like me and you. Imposter syndrome is as common at c-suite level as it is at a more junior level in an organisation. A male MD confided in me today that he is scared having conversations about diversity because he feels like he is walking on egg shells.
What really separates these people from one another is how they deal with that fear.
Some of us, when we get scared, armour up. We may put a mask on and pretend to be someone else. Someone more polished, maybe. More extrovert. More organised maybe.
Perhaps when we feel fear, we engage in behaviours that create certainty for ourselves and make ourselves feel better. This might be at the expense of others. We could compare our people to one another, or to ourselves. We might start finger pointing and blaming when things go wrong. We collect gold stars, rather than give them out.
Or maybe we put our head down and don't engage.
The courageous leader still feels fear when they are called upon to do something hard. They might still get anxious about suggesting a different strategic direction, or presenting in front of the global CEO. And it's not as simple as 'feel the fear and do it anyhow'. More like 'feel the fear' and stop yourself from doing something harmful as a result of it. 'Feel the fear' and don't do something shitty that makes you feel better, but is harmful to others.
I'm hosting a free webinar next week to explain courageous leadership.
This webinar will pull on Dr Brené Brown’s most recent research and my personal experience to cover the following:
- What happens in the absence of courageous leadership
- What our limiting beliefs are around courageous leadership
- The four key skill sets associated with courageous leadership
The other surprising thing about courageous leadership is that people struggle to articulate what it is. Although they are super quick to share what happens in its absence.
Our challenge to you is to think about this more. What examples of courageous leadership do you see? What could more courageous leadership bring to your company? Your industry? Your country?
Share some of these with us and we'll include them in the webinar. Simply send an email to Tanya@Thehobbsconsultancy.com with a sentence or two.
The webinar will take place on Wednesday the 5th February 12pm to 1pm and you can sign up here.
The full training programme on courageous leadership is a two day skills based curriculum based on research to support brave leaders in your organisation who want to build courageous cultures.
More details and tickets available for the next training (26th & 27th Feb) here
Key Dates & THC Events:
Thursday 6th February
Embracing Mental Health and Building Resilience in the Workplace (Open Workshop)
Wednesday, 26 & 27 February
Brene Brown’s Dare To Lead™ (2 Day Leadership course)
Tuesday 24th March
Webinar: Developing BAME talent using a strengths based approach