Of Leadership and Courage

Like many of you, I have been paying attention to the trial of Larry Nassar, the former doctor for both the United States Gymnastics Association and the Michigan State University Athletic Department, who recently was sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing hundreds of women over a 25-year period. As a still proud, but sincerely humbled, alumnus of Michigan State, I have paid a little closer attention to this story than I would have naturally. And I felt compelled to say something. This tragedy has evoked a myriad of emotions within me. Disgust, disappointment, anger, frustration and sadness are just a few words that come to mind when I think of the role that the environment of both these institutions appeared to play in this sordid affair. Another word comes to mind, too.

Courage.

I first apply this word to the young women who spoke in front of this demon to share their personal story, express their anger or vent their frustrations. As I watched these incredible women read their statements I was moved, not only by their words and conviction, but by their bravery. I was impressed with their ability to steadfastly relive these horrible moments in such a public forum.

I have always believed that courage is a trait synonymous with great leadership. But it is not mentioned as often as it should be when contemplating vital leadership traits. The essence of great leadership is to have the courage of your convictions, the courage to voice a dissenting opinion or the courage to step into an uncomfortable situation to protect people or ask unpopular questions. I can't help but wonder if there wasn’t some leader, somewhere within the orbit of these young women, who sensed something was wrong yet failed to act.

It’s not easy to summon the courage to take an uncomfortable action as a leader, but it comes with the job description. I admittedly remember a few moments from my days as a leader when I fell short in this space. I also witnessed several instances where leaders stepped up courageously to take action when they realized something was wrong. Let me share one of these stories. 

I will go back a few years to when I was the HR Manager for a Regional Marketing and Sales group. As the sales team came together for their annual meeting, one attendee, a sales manager named “Joe” became noticeably overserved during the pre-meeting dinner. As the evening wore on, he became loud and belligerent. No one said anything to Joe about his behavior, which I later learned had become accepted by the group as “Joe being Joe”. Enter "Amanda", the Sales Director for the group and Joe’s boss. She was reasonably new to her role and this was her first experience with Joe in a group setting. The next morning following the dinner, Amanda immediately sought me out to discuss Joe’s behavior, making it clear that she intended to address the situation as soon as possible. In short order we agreed to an approach, and then, despite our nervousness, we confronted Joe. We offered him EAP assistance and, in no uncertain terms, made it clear to him that such behavior would no longer be tolerated.

Now it might seem to you that Amanda’s actions were pre-determined and didn’t require much leadership courage. But that would not be accurate. Amanda’s two predecessors had witnessed the same issues with Joe but decided to avoid interceding because Joe was both well respected professionally and delivered great results. Since Amanda was new to her role she was aware that confronting Joe could cause problems in building relationships with the rest of the team. She easily could have avoided the matter by simply ignoring the problem, as had been done before. But she didn’t. She addressed the situation directly because, well, she knew that was her responsibility as a leader.

The results were amazing. Several months after Joe’s ‘episode’, he became sober, his performance improved significantly and everyone in Joe’s world, including, and perhaps most importantly, his family, improved. Joe’s wife connected with Amanda to say thanks for making a difference in their lives. Joe eventually retired from the company after a successful career. Because of Amanda's leadership courage, she not only made a difference to everyone in Joe's life but she potentially impacted the lives of others who may have inadvertently found themselves in his path of destruction.  

Certainly, the breadth of this story pales significantly in comparison with the Larry Nassar tragedy. But the underlying premise of being courageous, no matter how uncomfortable the situation, is a mandate that leaders must accept. Let’s hope that this is a lesson that all people who have the leadership authority to act inherently understand. Because, as we know all too well, the lives of others could depend on it.

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