Courage, a virtue and a characteristic is an absolute necessity for leadership. Any Leader devoid of it would cease to be leader; a follower, who has no faith in the courage of his / her leader, will be the first to part company from such leadership. The realisation that the leader cannot provide a security cover, especially when the chips are down, is a good enough reason for losing faith in leadership. What follows is lack of follower-ship.
The word, “courage”, in the dictionary is defined as the ability to do something that frightens one; “bravery” and strength in the face of pain or grief. Courage in everyday parlance has historically been related to a healthy physical persona. In the past to meet challenges of the enemy the requirement was of a physically strong, well-built persons, who were considered that they have it in him / her to be classified as courageous, who would walk into the ranks of the enemy, fearlessly.
Corporate environment and generally in the science of management, courage represents the will and determination to take courageous decisions of importance with full assumption of responsibility for the outcomes. Courage is not about taking critical decisions, but it is all about standing behind those as being “theirs”. The result, regardless, of whether it is one of success or failure must be accepted with full responsibility. Those who oscillate between being decisive and being unsure have to train themselves to become one who decides consciously and with full knowledge of consequences to follow.
Hence today, courage means much more than bodily powers to overcome danger. Today, courage represents and is inclusive of mettle, spirit, resolution and tenacity, that covers the space of mental and moral strength.
In the management of people, courage is a trait that stands out as being of being the most admirable. Courageous leaders can be counted upon to stand up for a principle or a just cause. As Theodore Roosevelt, had said rightly, those with timid and cold souls neither know what is defeat, or victory.
Courage relates to compassion, humility and forbearance. Those possessed of these traits, usually are also reservoirs of the ability to forgive and move on, in times of distress and challenge. Managers possessed with courage alone can lend a hand in helping others to move forward in life. Fear is something we all are gifted with; of failure or manifestation in any format. The consequences to face the results is one major ingredient of courage.
Stories of heroes and larger than life men can be extremely inspiring, but they do not create and nurture courage, which to most leaders of value, comes naturally as a blessed intrinsic and inherent quality. For gathering and demonstrating a fearless and courageous attitude, each person has to display his own abilities and unique skill set.
Change requires courage the most. Managers and leaders are full of apprehension when they have a choice to move away from the beaten track and do the same activity differently; even though it may be full of promise and potential to usher better results with greater efficiency. Moving away from the run- of-the mill response to emerging situations is a major indicator of courageous leadership. We have all come across on the corporate floor, supervisors enquiring from their colleagues, how was a particular situation handled in the past. They show no guts to look at a challenge with a fresh pair of lens. This is done to shirk responsibility from the outcome, if that should be negatively different from previous handling.
Courage, demands both speech and action; if they cease to be untwined, then it is only fluff, and no substance of recognition is on offer. This is verbal courage that can be light years distanced from the realities on the ground. The knowledge of what action to take is the most formidable initiator of action. The movement must produce results. The appreciation of knowing is through doing; and the mere willingness to do is highly insufficient; action has to be done. The best of corporate and government strategies die within the covers of files for lack of courage to put them into action. Possession of knowledge is no reflection of a courageous leader, it is about having the faith and determination to put things into action, just like the cliché suggests, and walk the talk... only leaders with courage put blueprints into motion.
As managers and leaders, we have to each single day choose between alternatives presented before us by the subject matter experts; the pros and cons are mentioned and debated upon, but the ultimate decision to choose one path, against all others, constitutes managerial bravery and courage. Those who dilly dally in taking charge of the responsibility, and either procrastinate or avoid out rightly the execution of a choice, cease to be leaders. Timidity is no relative to courage. A manager's essential role is to predominantly demonstrate in their persona a fearless ambition and zest to induce action for achievement of objectives against all odds.
Expertise in the practices of the past is of little or no value in the present. Those leaders, who fail to keep pace with fresh and new developments in their respective industries, normally end up abdicating their leadership position to those with fresher knowledge that may be of greater relevance than the known responses. An attitude to jettison the past is a signature indicator of a courageous leader.
Being an analyst or critique is not the most admirable position to be in; what is of critical importance is being in the midst of the theatre of action, regardless of what it may relate to; ranging from fine arts to the science and management of human resources.
Cowing down to past practices is managerial cowardice in my opinion. The past responses must be guiding lights not fetters of perpetuity. “An appeaser is one who feeds the crocodile, hoping that it will eat him last” (Winston Churchill). Attempting not to upset the apple cart for any real or perceived managerial expediency is downright managerial namby-pamby. Aristotle said you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to humour.
Fear is the enemy of courage; and a very close cousin is “apprehension”. Fear has been a major element in the many management debacles; and apprehension kills creativity. A courageous leader, does not shy away, he has an inbuilt trait and so leads with no insecurities but command and confidence. A leader filled with courage is one who does not abdicate when faced with challenge, but is quick in taking positions on matters without compromising on quality.
The writer is a senior banker and freelance contributor