Lead Bravely: It's Time To Be Daring

As organizations begin bringing people back into offices and reconstruct sustainable hybrid work arrangements, leaders have a unique window of opportunity to reset cultural norms and 're-contract' expectations in ways that better nurture diversity, normalize candor and unlock the ingenuity that fear stymies.?

This will require a new style of leadership. A more courageous and human-centered style.

Less polished, more real.

Less cautious, more courageous; willing to take calculated risks, challenge the old and experiment with the new.

Not all leaders will have the courage to make this jump. Yet for those who are willing to look within themselves - to disrupt well-worn patterns and confront latent fears - will lead themselves and others to new and higher ground, seizing the opportunities that will abound in the post-pandemic world.? Unfortunately, those who remain operating from fear - driven by ego over empathy, pride over purpose - will do the opposite.?

While there is no five step recipe for conquering our instinctive drive to avoid loss, here are five ways you show up with greater courage, despite your fears. After all, how can you instill courage in others if you're not continually stretching yourself to be braver.

Who are being always speaks more loudly than your words.

1. Get ‘On Purpose’?

When the pandemic crisis hit,?we all went into survival mode. Tough decisions ensued. Leaders must now be able to answer and communicate a new question:

A future for the sake of what?

That is, how is the world - specifically the stakeholders your team or business is supposed to serve - better off by your enterprise being in business? Likewise, who would be worse off if it weren’t??

If you’re unable to communicate your answer to that question - succinctly, passionately and in ways that speak to the deep human need for purpose and meaning - you won't be able to inspire people to exit their safety zone, much less pull together and go the extra mile. The gravitational pull of the status quo is strong. As I wrote in Stop Playing Safe:

A leader who cannot inspire people with a compelling vision for the future is like an Australian river mid-drought... dry and depressing.

2. Dare To Pursue Bold Invented Future

Adopting a ‘play not to lose’ mindset was not just understandable at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was crucial. But attention must now shift from protecting ‘what is’ to pursuing ‘what could be.’

Leading from a place of possibilities, not probabilities.

Leading toward an ‘invented future’ that expands the context of what others see as possible.

Now is a time to dial up your daring. To think boldly about how you want to pursue that purpose, reshape the future and expand the context of what others see as possible. If the vision you have for your team or organization isn’t exceeding your current capacity to achieve it, you’re setting your sights too low. As Richard Branson shared with me :

“If your goals don’t scare you, they’re too small.”?

3. Embrace Vulnerability

Our greatest strength is found in vulnerability. Only when you are willing to lower the ‘leader-like’ mask you may have thought you were supposed to wear can you show up with the authenticity needed to meaningful connect and inspire those around you. This doesn’t imply sharing every thought or revealing every struggle. Rather, as I wrote in You’ve Got This!, it means embracing your own humanity and connecting from your heart, not just your head.

After all, you lead by virtue of who you are, not what you do. In todays’ curated culture of superficiality and superlatives, people are hungry for leaders who are unafraid to step out from behind scripted speeches and be real.?Communication that is delivered with authenticity and heart, even if its not perfect, will have far more impact than one delivered solely from the head and curated to within an inch of its life.

4. De-Risk Candor

A recent survey found 40% of employees lack the confidence even to share their ideas for fear of being marginalized if they do. How fear manifests is not always obvious and often subtle, such as simply hesitating to share an idea or disagree with consensus thinking, and then the moment is gone.

Timidity can exact a steep hidden tax, and nowhere more than on the conversations that never happen - the information not shared, the request not made, the problem not raised, the feedback not given.

While the impact of fear on candor isn't always obvious, it should never be underestimated. What is left unsaid can exact the steepest hidden tax - on teamwork, creativity, trust and innovation.?

The wild yet brilliant idea that isn’t proposed. The strategy that isn’t refined. The safety concern not aired. The mistake not confided.?

When people know their contribution and input, however divergent from the pack, is valued they will be less reticent to share it. So your job is to foster psychological safety, de-risk truth-telling and normalize candor.??Employees need to know that its not only okay for them to be truthful, but it’s expected.??

Invite everyone to participate (and call on those who don’t). Acknowledge the ‘outlier’ suggestions. And never respond in ways that make people regret candor, so long its respectfully delivered.

The behaviors that are punished have an even greater impact on culture than those which are rewarded.

5. Embolden Others To Lean Into Risk

If you’ve ever worked for a boss who left you feeling diminished or disempowered, my commiserations. It’s a demoralizing experience. It’s only upside is that you know what?not?to do as a leader yourself.??Not to shame, blame or marginalize but to appreciate, encourage and provide people with a safety net that makes it less scary to break ranks with their comfort zone and lean toward risk.

Given our default setting as human's is to play it safe, it's your role to help others think bigger about themselves and what is possible for them. For instance,

• Acknowledge the potential you see in them (often)?
• Entrust them to make good decisions and solve tough problems (people rise to the level of expectations other place in them.)
• Encourage them to exit their comfort zone (maybe give the more timid a gentle prod... they'll thank you later).
• And when they take a risk and fall short of what they'd hoped, be their safety net, applaud their courage and ensure they know you’ve got their back.

Most of all, don't talk up the dangers of them failing. That only enlarges the hole in their psychological safety net.

Good leaders never kill courage.

They inspire it.?

Like dessert sands, every workplace culture is continually shifting as people make judgement calls about acceptable behaviors, and then adapt their behavior to establish new norms.?As such, your actions are never neutral. Each create a ripple effect that either unlocks potential or keeps it languishing.?

Now is your moment dial up your daring and act with the courage you want to inspire in others. To lay your vulnerability on the line for a nobler cause; making your mission greater than your fear.

After all, if not now, then when? And if not you, then who??

If you take nothing else from this article, ask yourself this:

What would I do today if was acting with the courage I wanted to inspire in others?

Then embrace your fear as a sign that you’re growing into your potential as a change-maker and... just do it. As Gary Burnison, CEO of Korn Ferry wrote in Leadership U:

"To lead you must become comfortable being uncomfortable."

Courage begets courage.?

You can’t lead without it.

Dr Margie Warrell emboldens leaders to amplify their impact with greater clarity, compassion and clarity. Her latest book is You’ve Got This! The Life Changing Power of Trusting Yourself .