Leadership Bravery

Leadership Bravery

I woke up Sunday morning with a very sore neck and significant pain in my shoulder and arm. I subsequently visited a physiotherapist who located and addressed the issues that were contributing to the pain. My physiotherapist:

• Exercised bravery. She was not backward in addressing the situation head-on;
• went straight to the root cause and created pain so that I might be pain-free;
• didn’t skirt around or minimise the issue;
• didn’t fear to hurt me;
• almost made a big boy cry.

What if we as leaders were:

• brave like my physiotherapist;
• seeking to locate the cause of problems;
• not trying to appease everyone nor sugar coat situations;
• dealing with difficult situations rapidly;
• not afraid of tears.

Just as one small area in my shoulder affected the rest of my body, so too it happens in organisations — one toxic, lazy or out-of-place employee; one inefficient process; one manager’s errant behaviour; one long-term customer's appalling treatment of our staff; one incompetent supplier. I wasn’t prepared to live with my pain and nor should you, but the first step is bravery.