I was reading an article regarding how many leaders resist asking questions. They fear of appearing foolish or incompetent. They adopt a ridiculous attitude of “fake it ‘til you make it”. The article states that fear stems from either “I am not enough” or “I don’t have enough.”
The “not enough” demonstrates a lack of confidence in ability, knowledge, expertise, and other requisite tools for great leadership. That is why so many leaders and managers surround themselves with “Yes Men”. With enough yes they alleviate their fear.
Courage is at least in the top five tools that great leaders must posses. It is impossible to be brave and courageous when we are not afraid. Fear must be present to be courageous. A great leader will embrace the fear and do what is right.
To be courageous in business we really means to do what is right. To discover what is right, we must be willing to surrender BEING right. To surrender being right means that we are willing to ask the right questions so that we discover what is right. Wisdom is not only having the right answers but also knowing what to do with them.
It takes courage to admit that we do not have all the answers. I have written before about the need to ask the right questions so we get the right answers. Only when we have the right answers can we take action toward the right thing to do.
If we are not willing to be “found out” that we don’t know everything, we may cling to a bad decision even in the face of new, disproving, information. The decision may have been the correct one with the available information, however a great leader will evaluate and adjust actions to account for additional data.
When our people think that we don’t know what we are doing, it is not because of the actions that we take, it is due to the actions we don’t take. With courage, we will ask that right questions, get the right answers, take the right actions and modify the actions as needed. This is confidence and charisma. This is why people will follow a leader.
By the way, the right thing to do may not be the one that makes us the most money.
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