OK, it’s time to pick a president of the United States. But which one? It feels that this time around one is left to “pick your poison.” The circumstances of this election year raise an interesting question to anyone involved in an organization. What, you ask yourself, makes a good leader?
Over the past 45 years I have worked with all types of businesses — large and small; corporate and community; for profit and nonprofit; ones whose star was ascending and others descending.
I have read enough books and attended enough conferences to have a basket full of confusion about leadership. There are the trait theorists, the behaviorist, the popularity pollsters and at least 20 others that fit somewhere within the leadership characteristics spectrum.
None seem sufficient in themselves. Yet the question is more pertinent now than ever, for these times require us all to seek out the best in leadership.
The virtue that makes others possible
And after all my travels, my answer to that question ends up where I started as a 24-year-old parole officer in the New Jersey: courage. That is the one virtue that I believe makes all the other virtues possible.
Courage is the willingness to talk openly about business problems and challenges with your team and fellow employees and take initiative even when not popular.
Shore up your courage quotient
If I am right, and I think I am, join me in asking this important question: What is my courage quotient?
1. Do I hold myself and others accountable for the company’s success?
2. Do I genuinely solicit and listen to input, on actions taken and decisions previously made?
3. Do I confront reality directly, whether it involves producing an inferior product, encountering a counterproductive work culture or having to reinvent ourselves?
4. Am I willing to envision better ways to do things and act appropriately rather than protecting the status quo?
5. Based on what I know today, what would I have done differently six months ago? How much did the COURAGE factor or lack thereof factor into the decision I made at that time and what were the consequences?
Everyone has some amount of courage inside of him or her. And everyone has fears. One way to build up your “courage quotient” is to tackle something at work that you are truly afraid of or makes you uncomfortable. It might be reporting unethical behavior, having a corrective discussion with a poorly performing employee or asking for a raise.
Whatever it is, make sure you are confident of its importance. Ask yourself what success looks like if you would tackle the issue. Then build an action plan to move forward. Check in with yourself periodically and adjust your game plan accordingly, but don’t give up.
As a business leader, your courage is infectious and will foster trust in your workplace vital to the company’s success. And that is what we are all about, regardless of what we do — building a stronger future for all of us today.
Kate Dewey is the President of The Forbes Funds, a supporting organization of the Pittsburgh Foundation. Kate has more than 40 years of experience with nonprofit organizations, foundations, public agencies and corporations at the local, state and national level. Kate is the 2008 winner of the ATHENA Award.
