Courageous Leadership with Mark Cole
#Courage2Lead
Fear, doubt, and uncertainty…
How can leaders find the courage to face present situations and prepare for the future? Why now is the time for courageous leaders?
It takes a real leader to face their own fears and fear in general. It is time for people-centric and value-based leadership.
In times like these you can either curse the darkness or turn on the light.
John Maxwell
Four Dimensions of Courageous Leadership
Courageous leadership is demonstrated:
- Inside out – Leading yourself – Leadership that begins on the inside. This means lead YOURSELF first. A position is not what drives you to lead. The biggest driver of leadership should be on the inside. Leadership develops on the inside. Most people quit working on themselves when the gain a leadership position and they end up being bigger on the outside than on the inside.
- Outside in – Your team – Who you are as a leader shows up on the outside and allows you to gain influence with OTHERS. How to impact those around you. Leadership starts with you but it is not all about you. Wherever you are, you can lead those around you.
- Side by Side – The size of your dream will determine the size of your TEAM. The Law of Proximity – Leaders make a way to be close to the vision and the team. Be around people that look at the positive (being one team with one dream). Doing whatever it takes to be part of the team of like-minded leaders that will nurture you.
One is too small to make a difference so be courageous enough to build a team to lead alongside you.
Mark Cole
- Upside down – From success to significance – when your leadership extends to your community.
- Leadership is not about what happens to you but about what happens through you. Success is what happens to you, significance is what happens through you.
Expand your influence to lead your community.
Four Tensions of Courageous Leader
Things that courageous leaders do to give them strength and confidence to lead.
There are no two consecutive good days in a leaders life (leaders lead with tensions around – we have to lead with tension).
Leading with courage means balancing:
- Taking RESPONSIBILITY while leveraging PERMISSION – This means knowing how to take responsibility and at the same time leading with the influence of others. Sense and see the need to lead before you take a position.
- A leader’s first responsibility is to own responsibility.
- A leader’s greatest challenge, especially after a little success is to continue leveraging permission.
- LISTENING while SPEAKING – We need to listen, learn, love, and then lead. Most don’t listen to learn, they prepare their response while listening (they listen just to give direction). As you listen, don’t prepare points to convince the other person to follow your ideology.
- Taking COURAGE while giving COURAGE – Courageous leaders have a bias to act, to move and make a difference. People follow courage not titles. In the world today, most leaders lead from a place of hope (‘I hope so’). Hope is not a strategy.
- PRODUCING while REPRODUCING – It is time to start reproducing leaders. It doesn’t stop with you.