Blog Post Title Four
Prologue
Let me introduce Bad Boss. Blog by blog, this anti-hero shows us how reasonable poor leadership can look. This is dangerous because; if you cannot identify it, how can you address it?
This time, Bad Boss is opening up about his views on the virtue of courage. He shows us how poor leadership survives and thrives, as we see his lack of courage inevitably debilitate his organisation.
Let’s have a look.
BAD BOSS
Oh, for Pete's sake, you're back already? Oh, alright, I will give you a bit of my time and wisdom, so listen carefully because I don’t normally share my precious insights! Right, let's talk about courage.
To be honest, I have always struggled with the concept. It's a leadership folly. Let me tell you about General John Sedgwick. He was a very brave chap, and where did it get him? He was wounded THREE times at the Battle of Antietam, leading unsuccessful Union assaults on a Confederate stronghold. When he got to the Battle of Spottsylvania he told his troops to stop flinching as bullets whizzed through the air. He stood up and announced that "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dista…” as he was shot in the head. That’s where bravery gets you.
Allow me to point out that leadership gives you the advantage that you can order others to go first. Should they make it then it is because of your insightful direction. If they don't, you can order someone else to do something else, or the same. The point is that leadership means survival.
You know when you're sitting around the board table and the company president outlines a problem and asks for solutions? It is utter stupidity to say anything unless you know what he wants to hear. You can't suck back the words once spoken so adopt your best neutral thinking face, avoid eye contact, and wait. Wait for some other sap to be brave, then when the president responds, you absorb it and begin to rephrase his sentiment in your head, ready for when you will be asked your opinion. Don't be too hasty, make sure you know which way the wind is blowing. The wind can change direction, you can't change your answer.
Now let’s imagine your team coming to you with an idea to take a quarter of the budget and invest in a new product that will create a new segment. Their research is faultless and insightful. The prediction is that the organisation’s sales will double in three years and the company will be the market leader for many more. What do you do? You tell them to bugger off, of course! It’s far easier and safer to do what you did last year again, you’ll get a similar result.. Just play safe, everything is fine.
Finally, it’s worth saying that I absolutely strut around in front of my team talking about how fear is our enemy, have the courage to be vulnerable and brave decisions are needed to get great results. I say all that stuff, quoting from the latest management fad, but I’m just talking Brene Brownshit. In reality, I play the long game and that means avoiding risk, steering clear of change and leaving transformation to others. Those that rise to the challenge? The ones that innovate? The disruptors? They are here today, gone tomorrow.
I don't have a lot more to say about this. Just remember, “Courage and bravery are words for an epitaph.”
“The only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” -Mark Zuckerberg
I think that being brave is one of the most important traits a leader can have. Without it, an organisation will be far less innovative, slowly losing any market advantage because it wants to avoid risk. And that is another example of why it is so hard to spot poor leadership, its toxic effect is inexorable, but slow and well hidden.
The brave leader is not reckless, he understands the consequences and so his action is purposeful, managing the risk as best he can. Business history is littered with examples of fallen heroes who failed to be brave. Netflix approached Blockbuster to sell for $50M in 2000. They turned down the chance because it was “a very small niche business” that now has revenue in excess of $20 billion. Toys’R’Us, GM and Polaroid were all reluctant to innovate. If coronavirus and the climate crisis are not making you consider innovating in your business, then I doubt anything will!
Having courage in leadership is not about taking risky business decisions. If your boss is a coward, do you think he will put himself in harms way for you? Will he back your efforts against management or popular opinion? Being brave inspires loyalty.
WE’RE HEADING FOR DISASTER!
I once attended a talk where the presenter shared an experience. And then asked a striking question. It went like this:
“I was with my husband and four friends travelling down the Colorado river on a raft. We had our guide on board, and followed two other guides steering a raft with our supplies; tent, food, etc. We had been navigating various small rapids the previous day and, all of us were beginners but felt we had acquitted ourselves quite well. We had learned the basics and followed instructions well. This day, we were heading into more challenging waters. As we approached our first big challenge, we watched the two experienced guides on the raft ahead go into the white water smoothly, but suddenly they went out of sight, and stayed out of sight. We began to wonder what happened to them. And as everyone scanned the water, we all saw, in a heart stopping moment, their raft, all the contents and the two guides spat up into the air in all directions and then falling back down into the froth. Everyone in the boat saw it, and as the speed of our raft picked up, we turned to our guide standing at the back with his steering oar, and we waited for him to speak.”
The question came: “The young guide is our leader. What did we want from him?”
Isn't it a brilliant scenario to capture leadership? The guide is in charge, he has more knowledge, he has more experience. So if you are in that boat, what do you want from him? Reassurance? Clear instruction? Visible confidence? Determination? Strategy? What else?
What we know is that at that moment, the guide had to be brave. In that instance, he cannot do nothing, he cannot wait for someone else to bring a solution, everyone looked to him for leadership. In that moment of crisis, he had no space for hesitation. He had to have the courage to commit to a particular action. Maybe he wasn’t sure if he would make the right choice, had the last couple of days had made them into the team they needed to be? Did they have the skills or the strength? Was the stamina there to keep going? But he had to lead them out because they were relying on him.
Did the guide do that? Well the presenter made it through, that’s a good sign. She didn’t bring her husband, so I don’t know about him.
[Joke - everyone came through fine, including the guides on the first raft.]
Many businesses are in a similar situation amidst crises today, being dragged somewhere they don’t want to be. Leaders need to be brave, show their teams that they see danger but they can also see safety. They need to communicate clearly and reassuringly. Now, more than ever, they need to be brave enough to challenge what was working before.
RECOGNIZE AND AVOID FEAR'S FRIENDS
Being brave is hard. It helps to be aware that there are behaviours we should recognise as inhibiting bravery. Leaders who succumb to these are likely to be running operations that are inhibited, not agile or innovative.
Perfectionism - Have you ever had a boss that was never satisfied unless the work was flawless? Perfectionism is very often a problem, because it destroys productivity. It wastes time unnecessarily when we are pedantic. When we waste time, we don’t have the capacity to try new things.
Perfectionism discourages risk-taking and innovation. It’s hard to take a risk when you know your boss wants to see perfection. Even if you are well researched, prepared and ready to fail fast, the chances are it won’t be perfect first time, so why take the risk only to be told its not good enough? So opportunity sails passed.
If you are a perfectionist, you must learn to manage yourself. Lose the ‘all-or-nothing’ mindset, use ideas as guides, trust those around you, celebrate progress (however small) and accept failure as a chance to learn. See the big picture, be aware of the risks perfectionism carries.
Being Guarded - How can you take a brave step forward if you don't allow yourself to be vulnerable? It's an essential part to courage in leadership. A leader can be vulnerable by asking for feedback on their performance, by being accountable for others’ work and for taking decisions to try new things. We all have pride and to open yourself up to hurt is something others will recognise quickly. They may not label it 'courage' but they will respond to it.
Doing It Solo - Some people take on too much unnecessarily. You can't do it all yourself. If you could, you wouldn’t be leading a team. Recognise that sooner or later you need to bring others in to help you. When they understand how brave you are being, they will feed off your courage and you will see your bravery mirrored in them.
Risk Aversion - It is harder to take a risk when things are going well. Being edgy and innovative is far more difficult when you have more to lose, or you’re content with how things are. This is Bad Boss’ problem. And it was probably took General Motors to bankruptcy.
When an opportunity arises; think hard about the risks and rewards. Ask if not this then what? And if the answer is nothing, alarm bells should sound. If you’re talking to a risk averse boss, sell the hell out of the ‘why’ it should be done.
SELF ASSURANCE
Being brave is not as difficult as it sounds. Deep down, there's a compass guiding you according to your values. You know what the right thing to do is, and that little voice telling you which way the compass is pointing is your self-assurance. Use this voice to keep you true to the course. What you think of as fear is actually a tool to help you assess the situation; did you think of this? What if that happens? All the time you hear these questions you keep moving forward. And as more people understand what you are trying to achieve, it feels less like bravery and more like "just the right thing to do.”
