Leading with Courage

Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” During my time at Merrill, I faced some complicated crises that required a lot of courage, including letting go of high-performing employees and accepting short-term losses in productivity to support the integrity of the company. It was never easy, but I knew it was right.

It is nearly impossible to go throughout your professional life without facing a crisis, especially when it involves concerns about someone with whom you work. I’ve seen many cases in the media lately of the potentially irreparable consequences that can occur when someone violates the code of ethics of an institution. I’ve also seen the variety of choices leaders have made in how they respond, and there are valuable lessons we can learn and implement from them.

Good leaders face problems head on. Stepping out front and showing the courage to act first avoids creating more complications and potential embarrassment for your organization and your people. Just as importantly, it means you can establish an accurate narrative before others create an alternate one for you. You can begin to repair relationships or perceptions that may have been damaged sooner and in a much more transparent way, working to preserve or rebuild the essential element of trust.

Good leaders empower others to speak up. Relieve any fear of retribution by letting colleagues know you will stand behind them. I made it clear to my leaders that I would protect them if they had the courage to come to me with a problem, and I expected them to do the same for their teams. Since the #MeToo movement began, more people than ever now feel empowered to speak up. Much of that is due to leaders showing their colleagues that they won’t dismiss their input or abandon them for telling the truth.

Good leaders are willing to pull the threads. Once you’ve empowered your teams to speak up, be ready to follow up. Have the courage to listen to, pay attention to, and act on even small red flags. They may lead to an unraveling that is necessary to reveal and repair a problem or avoid potentially (even more) damaging issues down the road. Addressing these concerns early also means you have more time to act and to guide those impacted down a more positive path. 

Good leaders put people ahead of performance. We must create the clear expectation that if someone crosses a professional or ethical line, we will act, even if there is a personal relationship/friendship with the colleague involved. As a leader, establishing zero tolerance is just that.

Often you need to formally put aside the fears of short-term negative consequences and show colleagues they can trust you with honesty and disclosure. Upholding standards of ethics and behavior must always take priority over productivity and business performance.

These situations are delicate, complicated, and often emotional. It is imperative to treat all parties involved with respect. As leaders, we need to respond with thoughtful and careful decisions that put our people first. Those decisions come from facing our challenges, empowering others to speak up, and following up on what they have to say.

It can be incredibly difficult to navigate these crises, and it’s not always easy to do the right thing, but good people will be most proud to work for a company guided by someone who leads and acts with courage.