Be the Change

Mahatma Gandhi's advice, to be the change you want to see in the world, is a powerful call to leadership. Great leaders are those who recognize that their motivation and energy set the stage for their teams' productivity and achievements.?

Leaders provide the model that teams follow. The heart of successful leadership is this willingness to go first. Merriam-Webster defines the verb to lead as “to guide…especially by going in advance.” [emphasis mine]

So, why wouldn't a leader lead? Why would she allow outspoken members of a team to set the tone as sarcastic, joking around, rowdy, or critical? Why allow cliques and hierarchies that exclude some members? Why let one associate be scapegoated, or allow another to be a bully?

Leaders who don't step up, don't go first to establish how we go, may be overcome by fear. Fear of change, of facing the unknown, is a hard-wired survival skill in humans. Hesitating in the face of a new situation is often a good idea. Taking time to assess possibilities can be life saving in the jungle, the veldt…or 21st Century civilization.?

A successful leader notices her fear of change and finds its antidote in a reach for courage. She is self-aware and nonjudgmental about this very human fear. She knows that courage isn't fear's replacement, but its partner. Having courage isn't the same as losing all fear, and she knows that the pretense of fearlessness is rarely convincing.?

Courage is not a feeling, an emotion, but a form of action. The leader feels her fear and does the fearsome thing anyway. The doing it anyway is courage.

For every leader, the wisdom and power to seek courage rise from a solid, confident sense of self. A stable, firm-footed stance of I know who I am is the balancing counterweight for fear. When a leader knows her own mind, her heart, and her soul, courageous action seems natural whenever fear rises.

And they are comfortable knowing they don't know everything.?

Acting like a know-it-all, especially when it's obvious nobody has all the answers, is fear. Asking questions and honestly seeking solutions is courageously going first into uncertainty, with relevant caution.

The successful leader who goes first, holding her courage by the hand, often finds herself better able to be the one who listens to understand. She realizes she can set the standard for how to honor others' knowledge and skills, as she respects each voice. She stays open to different points of view. She explores opportunities rather than setting limits.

A great leader models these ways to be the change. Courageously going first is among her strongest tools for success. In fact, the shift from managing to leading begins with fostering team members' connections to and acceptance of one another. Leaders of the future see that authentic relationships are the secret sauce for greater productivity.