When times get challenging, I’ve seen the leaders who draw on courage and bravery get the best results. That doesn’t just mean bottom-line success. They tend to keep the good people who want to stick with the organisation, are focused on delivering the solutions that will make all the difference and who stay supportive and committed to what needs to be done, whether that leads to a positive or not so positive outcome.
Miguel Bruna, unsplash
But as I learned from becoming a Be Braver practitioner a couple of years ago, courage and bravery aren’t superpowers we’re gifted with. With intention and practice, every leader can develop these qualities and add them to their toolkit of change.
In the words of Susan David, author of ‘Emotional Agility’, “Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is fear walking.” It’s the strength to take action, despite feeling fear and facing challenges head-on. For leaders of organisational change, this means the courage to develop what might be a different vision for the future and steer their teams towards a common goal. And it’s likely they’ll have to challenge the status quo, too.
Being brave is typically about being able to stay calm, focused and decisive in moments of crisis or extreme danger. For leaders of change, this could look like dealing with resistance to change, having to make and deliver on hard decisions and dealing with conflicts, too.
Here’s what bravery and courage in action in organisational change can look like…
Sam was an experienced leader in a struggling engineering business. She was facing the daunting task of rapidly turning the organisation around so it could get back its competitive edge.
Courageous and brave decision time… Sam had to make big, drastic and difficult choices. She had to roll-out bold and tough cost-saving measures rapidly, and task teams to revamp outdated processes to streamline the operation.
These decisions were met with real resistance from her teams – they were venturing into the unknown and it all felt really uncomfortable. But Sam shared the ‘why’ of the decisions, showing the courage and bravery to make the changes that were essential for the company’s survival. She confronted the obstacles, had tough conversations, and consistently stood up for the change. She listened to employees, acknowledged their concerns and gradually turned the sceptics to advocates.
In less than six months, the organisation was back on track.
Through consistent practice, if leaders can strengthen their courage and bravery, like Sam, they will be in a better place to lead with conviction, inspire their teams to take risks and be more comfortable with being vulnerable. Environments develop where people are not afraid of change and uncertainty and where creativity and innovation can grow. Organisations can thrive and not survive.
Are you feeling as courageous and brave as Sam in the face of change?
If you’re looking for solutions to address tricky issues in organisational change, I can help so please get in touch.
You can find out more about the brilliant Be Braver workshops and coaching programmes to help you develop courage and bravery in your leadership approach to change, here .
I’ll be exploring a few ideas to help you practice bravery and courage in my next post...