(Author’s note: I am a coach of leaders and executives. As a result, this article speaks directly to individuals who hold positions of influence within their companies. People who, in stepping into a leadership role, have signed on to exhibit leadership of high integrity and moral courage. However, the message and sentiment is applicable to all of us.)
Most of us have heard of “courageous conversations.” Heck, there are entire books written on the topic. But recently I’ve stumbled across a tangentially related and more troubling silent gap in leadership tiers of organizations. A fundamental lack of courageous challenge.
What is courageous challenge? It is the knowledge, skills, abilities, and bravery of individuals to challenge their leadership, even – and especially – when the leaders themselves know something is fundamentally incorrect, not aligned with corporate values, or downright unethical.
What happens when an organization avoids, or discourages, courageous challenge? Organizational silence. Resentment. A culture of poor decisions, error tolerance, high conflict, and low integrity. A toxic work environment with high turnover. And, eventually, organizational decline or demise.
Let’s get to the heart of what motivates courageous challenge. Integrity and a strong sense of core values. A commitment to the “greater good” vs. personal comfort and safety. It requires stepping – or even leaping – into discomfort.
Most importantly, it requires bravery. Which is where most organizations are finding the leadership gap around courageous challenge. It’s not because leaders lack bravery. Instead, they are paralyzed by very real, valid concerns because many of their fears involve job stability, feeding their families, supporting loved ones. The ability to survive in a tumultuous economy and world.
Bravery is not the absence of fear. Bravery is the choice to act in spite of fear. Fear of retaliation. Fear of losing status. Fear of demotion or job loss. It is the courage to face these fears and move forward anyway. The moral imperative to do the right thing.
Bravery – in today’s world – is also a major calculated risk that involves thoughtfully answering many questions, like the ones I’m sharing below.
One very important question I ask is, What’s preventing you from speaking up and stepping into your leadership power?
The natural response to that question is some version of fear or uncertainty. My follow-up, often uncomfortable, questions are these:
How is this fear serving you?
What is it compromising within you?
What would the person I most admire do in this situation?
What action best aligns with my own core values, and sense of integrity?
How is your life benefiting or suffering because of your tolerance this situation?
What is the alternative?
What option requires the most courageous challenge?
The next time you’re in a meeting and you witness unethical behavior- which can be something as seemingly harmless as a padded sales projection report or as flagrant as falsifying financial records – what will you do? What will the voice in your head say to you, in that moment?
Know that often, the best and right choice, is the difficult one. Remember, these are the moments that define leaders.
