Leading Courageously
Featuring Mike Staver, CEO of The Staver Group
Competency: Building High-Performing Teams
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Episode Recap and Wrap Up
According to Mike Staver, CEO of The Staver Group, courage is one of the most important elements
of leadership. Especially in the current times with unprecedented pressures, and given people spend
more time in their work lives than in their personal lives, it is incumbent on leaders to act and
lead with courage.
Mike believes courage matters because:
- People want to follow "Smart Boldness"... Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech was smart and bold and inspired a nation.
- Your team deserves it. Great leadership demands it of you. And leadership based on courage will inspire risk-taking, with resulting performance and the joy that comes with it.
- Mike also believes you can't advance in life or in business without taking risk … always an act of courage.
An important element of understanding how to lead with courage is to understand what courage
isn't. Courage is not reckless, impulsive, easy, or without risk. And therefore, courage is not
safe. Leaders should be uncomfortable, because in the presence of discomfort come the best
opportunities. Further, leading from a basis of fear means accepting the status quo, avoiding
accountability, focusing on “low gain” but urgent activity, and lack of clarity around core values—a
ll guaranteed to result in poor results.
Mike believes several things are necessary to become a more courageous leader:
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Have a clear vision, and communicate the heart and soul of your vision to your organization so there is absolutely no ambiguity about your expectations.
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Engage your followers in your strategy, and ensure they have bought in and are taking action in the right direction.
He posed several questions that should be an ongoing part of your leadership approach.
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To what extent is your vision/message clear and inspiring? Understood and actionable? Resonating throughout the culture? And relevant to the culture, the customer, and the follower?
Always monitor how well your organization sees their own “fit” or contribution to the vision, ask for their input, and be flexible in allowing them to make changes to the approach, as long as results are achieved. Mike’s view is that courageous leaders are relentlessly focused on the outcome, but not necessarily the means to achieve the outcome. He added this advice:
- Work diligently to remove obstacles from your people’s path to success
- Be quick in your decision making, and relentless in demanding execution
- Insist on accountability and results
- Embrace the credo: Effort is admirable; achievement is essential.
- Ask yourself, and your followers, “What is the one thing that, if we did it, would have the greatest impact on results?
- Create a teaching culture and a learning organization.
- Shift from a waiting mindset to an involvement/anticipatory mindset.
- Increase efficiency – relentlessly driving quicker, better, less.
Mike closed by reminding everyone he will be speaking at conference in 2012, and encouraging all to attend!