Braveheart Leadership: The Courage To Make the Right Decisions

Braveheart Leadership

It is a call to commit and act; to make hard choices and take risks; and to do what’s unpopular and right.

Language can be a funny thing though. Sometimes, people hijack words to fit their own ends. They may brandish words like courage, innovation, and integrity, but look closely at the real message. Are these words used as motivators...or weapons?

How people live is far more important than what they say. That’s especially true of leaders. When there’s a breach between rhetoric and reality, you’ll find a drained and demoralized organization riddled with distrust, dissension, and doubt. And that’s not surprising. Leaders are deeply flawed beings too. They could read every leadership book, but their insecurities would prevent them from absorbing some lessons. Like everyone, leaders view themselves as the heroes of their stories. And they’ll deny or rationalize whatever contradicts that. Think of it this way, if you ask everyone in an organization if they are a bad leader, no one will point to themselves, and yet if you look at climate assessment surveys and feedback documents, you will find that some people that think of themselves as the solution, are in fact, a part of the problem.

In some ways, blind spots are blessings. They keep everyone sane. They save people from fully knowing how weak they really are. But these double standards cut both ways. For leaders, they often lay the foundation for their downfall.  

Fact is, leaders don’t show courage just by taking a stand or facing down a taboo topic. Most people do that a few times in their lives. Real courage is a mentality that’s reflected in our day-to-day lives. It requires awareness, openness, and perseverance. So how do you separate the truly brave-hearted leaders from others? Consider these areas:

1) Engaging in Backstabbing.

Pretty obvious, huh? Some leaders regularly badmouth their reports or superiors when they’re not around. It’s like high school never ended. They’ll belittle each other’s abilities, quirks, and indiscretions. Then, they'll smile together on stage, and wonder why their employees look ready to lose their lunches. More importantly, leaders believe that their employees don't know when they don't get along. Too often, leaders are oblivious to how quickly word of their conduct can spread across their organizations. When it does, their employees will start wondering what’s being said about them in private. And they'll ask themselves why their leaders don’t set the bar as high for themselves. Lacking respect and restraint, leaders only stir resentment. And they lose their moral authority to lead as a result.

2) Avoid Work

When the going gets tough, the tough…disappear. In the busiest times, they sneak off to a vacation or an official function that takes them away from the organization. Or, they hole up in their office, cowering behind email. When conflicts arise, they have excuses for slipping out of meetings (or missing them entirely). You can list all reasons. Maybe they don’t want to expend the political capital. Perhaps they view getting their hands dirty as beneath them. Or, they might be lazy. When leaders avoid or delegate their wet work, they send a clear message: You’re on your own. We won’t be there for you.

Well that's until they get in trouble and have to find someone to take the fall instead of themselves.

3) Evade Hard Choices

You’ll hear all the excuses: “This isn’t the right time,” “There’s nothing I can do,” and "Send it to me in an email, and I'll get back to you." Sure, there may be more immediate priorities. And maybe there wouldn’t be a consensus. However, these individuals are afraid to even bring issues up. They won’t decide, advocate, or even take ownership. At best, they’ll ask for more data. They live in the short-term, putting off painful action; allowing the problems to fester; and praying the day of reckoning will hit after they’ve left.

4) Won’t Listen 

They’re so superior…or so they think. They cut people off to avoid a discussion. Or, they simply walk away when they’re in mid-sentence. These leaders must always have their way, and steamroll anyone who questions them. They're narcissistic...and in their world, only a few voices have value. Some may call it just being decisive. Most interpret it as fear. Where employees have no say, they have no stake. Their talent..and all those ideas...gets wasted. That just hinders the organization…and ultimately the leaders themselves.  

5) Afraid to Discipline/Hold Employees Accountable

Most leaders have no qualms about going after those “disgruntled” employees. Want to know what separates the brave-hearted from the craven? Watch what happens when one of their people threatens, steals, violates, conceals, lies, or makes an unforgivable error? Will those leaders cut ties...or will they sweep it under the rug and shame the whistleblowers? Sometimes, being brave-hearted requires leaders to discipline their friends, the ones who’ve furthered their careers and know their secrets.

They are quick to hold the good employees accountable, because they are aware that the good employees will ensure it never happens again. However, they don't realize that the good employees are aware that you don't do the same with the other employees that need consistent supervision.

Make no mistake: If they won’t confront their people, they won’t hold themselves accountable either.

6) Don’t Follow Through

You have to love Passive-Aggressives. They say they’re on your side. But nothing ever seems to get done. Sure, they always have some explanation. But no one buys it. They’re bluffing and buying time. It doesn’t matter if they’re sparing your feelings or undermining you.

The reality is the same: Wannabe leaders are starters. Real leaders are finishers.

7) Don’t Think for Themselves

The title doesn’t make the leader. Often, individuals hide out among the herd, toeing the line to get along. They believe uniformity equals safety. That way, they have deniability when conditions change. These individuals rely on rules, structure, and deference. They don’t speak up or challenge. And they certainly don’t hold their superiors accountable. In short, they shy away from conflict...and potentially losing something significant (like a job). For that, their tagged with the worst insult in the leadership lexicon: Coward.

8) Hide Behind Power

These leaders often bask in reflected glory. As executives, they posses the stature that titles confers on them. What’s more, they can leverage hundreds of people to realize their goals. But what happens when leaders feel overmatched and threatened? How do they wield their power and the apparatus they control?

It’s the world’s oldest story. Many times, they panic at the slightest whiff of dissent. Their first instinct is to close ranks, lash out, and tighten their grip. Paranoid and desperate, they adopt an “Are you with us or against us” mantra. And they embolden their loyalists to conduct witch-hunts to intimidate and purge the skeptics. And forget open door policies and confidentiality. These leaders are about spying and documenting…and their employees respond in kind.

The whole time, their employees wonder, “What is our leadership so afraid to face?” Their measures produce compliance, not commitment. Worse, they make leaders look deserving of the criticism and guilty of the accusations. Maybe some leaders act this way because they don’t trust their employees. Or, perhaps they sense their employees can already see through them.

It doesn’t matter: When leaders establish an “us vs. them” mindset, people are usually safer standing alongside the “them.”

9) Won’t Grow or Change

“I don’t want to hear it.” Can you think of a sillier phrase coming from a leader? When leaders grow certain of their strengths is when those strengths become weaknesses. The status quo is so tempting. It requires so little thought or work. But the world is changing faster than anyone can absorb. Eventually, these leaders will be exposed for falling behind. Leadership requires the humility to see that alternatives aren’t threats. It involves an awareness that distinguishes the organization’s best interests from their own interests. Most times, they don’t align. When leaders choose the latter, they eventually take everyone down with them.

10) Not Authentic

Few things can discredit a leader faster than being perceived as phony. Sometimes, leaders will say what they don’t believe, sugarcoating the truth so people hear what they want. While these words may appeal to their aspirations, they’re really adopted for appearances. They’re window dressing for cultures that still operate under the same dying command-and-control model. Leadership’s words may reflect their ideals, but they also reveal how their personal faults have corrupted their delivery. And they expose a team that lacks the courage to trust and respect its people.

11) Don’t Connect with People

Relationships are scary. They require us to step outside ourselves, to become vulnerable and bare who we really are. Sometimes, people take advantage of these relationships. Other times, we may not want others to know who we really are.

• That's why you see some leaders who don't get to know their employees and "lead" from an office.
• That’s why we shouldn’t be surprised when leaders put up those tough and distant personas, as they look past people to deter any interaction.

In doing so, they don’t connect or learn what drives their people. As a result, these leaders never get the most out of them. Relationships take time. But numbers are far easier to manage than those unpredictably creative people who create them.

You see this disconnect when employees rebel or leave an organization. Leaders often can’t understand why. Thus, they disparage the screening process or bad influences. Or, they clasp their hands, labeling the departed as entitled, disloyal, or “unable to grasp our vision.” But when the most respected people start jumping ship, it’s probably time for leaders to look in the mirror, adjust their approach, and start reaching out....and that takes real courage. 

12) Can’t Adjust to Failure

Ever see those young leaders who carry themselves with such bravado? They’re usually the ones who haven’t failed yet. When they inevitably do, it isn’t pretty to watch. First, they crawl into a shell. Then, they try to cover it up. When that fails, they blame or bargain. Some persevere and come out wiser. Others get stuck, carrying the same swag and repeating the same mistakes. A few just give up, laying blame on timing, circumstance, and fate. 

Want to find brave-hearted leaders?

• They’re the ones who know when to step up, give direction, or take action.
• They care little for the trappings of leadership, focusing instead on setting the example for their peers. They understand that power isn't in the duty title, but the respect that was earned by helping their employees get the tools needed to become successful.
• They hold everyone equally accountable. Their expectations are for individuals to exceed the standards and deliver on their commitments, and have courage to call them out when they don’t follow through. They remember that accountability begins with them...holding themselves responsible for the behaviors you expect of others.
• They seek out opinions and build relationships. To them, mutual respect fosters trust. Gathering ideas only helps them identify challenges sooner. In short, they anticipate and act before they need to do so.
• They seek feedback and listen. Unfiltered 360-degree feedback is not always easy to hear, but it can breathe new life into your relationships and leadership style if you listen and act.

That is true brave-hearted leadership: Making the decisions and modeling the behaviors that keep organizations out of life-and-death situations in the first place.