When we think of leaders who lack courage, we typically envision people who have a difficult time making tough personnel decisions or delivering a strong message to those who need it.
To be sure, courage is required to be an effective leader largely because decisions have consequences and workplace relationships need both caring and accountability.
However, the biggest role leaders play that demands courage is often overlooked. Exceptional leaders don’t make nearly as many good decisions as they do preventing bad ones from gaining traction.
Of the many proposals, ideas, and strategies team members offer, most are impractical, infeasible, implausible, or just plain bad. Team members frequently propose ideas that don’t take into consideration the extended and unintended consequences of the proposal.
In many instances, the idea is unrelated to the team strategy or will distract the team from focusing on what it needs to. Good leaders negate many more bad decisions than they do supporting good ones.
The best leaders know that several good decisions can easily be wiped out by one bad one. Their job is to make sure poor decisions never see the light of day. Killing bad decisions is what good leaders do. And this requires real courage.
Team members and colleagues are naturally disappointed when an idea or proposal they believe in is summarily dismissed or rejected by their leader. They have often spent a great deal of time thinking about the proposal and want to stand out with this bright idea.
In many cases, they can’t be persuaded about why the idea they hold dear will distract the team or is implausible because of downstream consequences. Taking away the oxygen a bad proposal needs to gain a foothold within the team requires the courage to hold a strong view and stick to it.
Disappointing people is never easy. Given that some of the highest-performing team members will deploy their creativity and street smarts to propose many ideas, rejecting the bad ones can be an ongoing effort. But letting even one poor idea or decision prosper can derail the entire team for months or years ahead.
Good leaders know that, so they stand their ground. The best leaders even sniff around looking for poor decisions that have taken hold without much discussion. They know their job is to call them out and dismantle them before they undermine team effectiveness.
Not all leaders have the courage to serve as the gatekeepers of quality. Such courage requires them to keep their own counsel in many cases and to withstand the negative reactions of others who think they are wrong or heavy-handed in their approach.
Thankfully, team members will also propose solid ideas that benefit the group. Leaders get behind such decisions and drive them forward with enthusiasm knowing such quality ideas will always be in the minority.
Courageous leaders say “No” much more often than they say “Yes.” In their insistence on ensuring quality decisions, they are willing to stand alone and become temporarily unpopular. Unknowingly, the team owes a tip of the hat to leaders who possess such courage to lead.
