"Maverick" (or the courage of the leader)

Over almost 20 years in the human resources arena, I have had the chance to observe, deal and work with a wide number of business leaders and a variety of leadership styles.

Every leader’s leadership style is, in fact, unique as it is correlated to factors like personality, education and experience - just to name the most relevant - that by definition qualify each individual in a peculiar way.

While I remember with particular favor those leaders who combine a resolute and effective leadership with strong personal values like integrity and empathy, that I would call the “good leaders”, I cannot deny that I have learnt some of the most enduring lessons in my life from those leaders who I would define as “mavericks”.

These individuals are natural born risk takers but smart enough to navigate the deceitful politics of complex organizations; they make business decisions putting their own credibility at stake rather than the company’s one; they do not make many calculations as to whether their unorthodox approach to the corporate life will put their job at risk in the long run.

In simple terms, the leadership trait that defines these leaders is the courage. Clearly, this distinctive feature is not the prerogative of the mavericks alone; in fact, it is not uncommon to find it well developed also in what I called the “good leaders” or in many other leadership types.

The courage of the leader manifests itself in various ways: a higher risk appetite, a tendency to challenge the status quo, the ability to focus more on the positive outcome of a decision rather than on the factors that would hold it back. Courageous leaders are naturally optimistic, they are self-confident and they project a sense of possibility into everything they do. They think that forward movement is always better than being stuck in place. Courage fuels their sense of purpose and defines who they are and how they want to be perceived as a leader by the organization. A courageous leader is a leader that inspires and drives his team, engages his people to go the extra mile by setting the example and by communicating in a clear way the direction.

In a world where the pandemic has emphasized how volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous the environment where we operate is, courageous leaders are in high demand and short supply.