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In the beginning of my career, I was approached by my boss to present a training on leadership excellence to senior leaders. I listened carefully to her request and thought: “How on earth can I do this with my experience and skills?” I didn’t know how to respond even though I was beyond worried how I would make this happen. What if I fell on my face and lost credibility with the senior leaders? What if I didn’t know the answers to their questions based on all their years of working at the institution? Would this “ask” completely topple my career? Did I have the confidence or the courage to take on this huge challenge?
There is an argument to be made that both confidence and courage are both critical qualities for impactful leadership. For sure leaders need to feel confident in their ability to perform and execute. They need to possess the right skills and demonstrate competence in whatever field they are leading. However, I maintain that no matter how much confidence a leader exudes, they will not be able to propel forward without courage. I speak from personal experience.
Five reasons courage is more important for leaders than confidence:
1. Believing In Yourself Isn’t Enough
Often in a coaching session the conversation begins with a person saying, “It’s not that I don’t feel confident…” Many leaders think that they have what it takes to perform a new task or add a new job responsibility. Where they have difficulty is visualizing how they can march forward. Having the courage to take action is very different from thinking they are capable.
2. Feeling Empowered With New Skills Stops Short
Emboldened with new skills and insights can be exciting for most leaders. Perhaps they have worked extremely hard to obtain a new certification or even paid a big financial price to obtain an important credential. Yet, they stop there, unable to push forward and share their new expertise.
- What are they missing to make a pivot?
- What could be sabotaging them to just do it?
- If this new leadership tool was so important to them what was stopping them from executing?
As the cowardly lion in the “Wizard of Oz” would say- CCCCCourage.
3. Knowing The Best Solution Doesn’t Lead To Change
Another very common occurrence for leaders lacking bravery, is knowing in their hearts and minds that they have a beneficial solution but unable to promote it. One leader I coached knew exactly what needed to happen to help grow a team member yet they couldn’t tackle the difficult conversation. They knew what needed to change but did not have the courage to sit down and speak the truth.
4. Facing Down Your Fears Creates Movement
Fear and uncertainty can be saboteurs for even the strongest of leaders. A leader may have great ideas and experience and at the same time feel overwhelmed about ways to move forward. The thing is that fear can be paralyzing and cause leaders to retreat inwards. Here are a few ways to show your leadership courage:
- Name the fear. Once we name what is causing us to be afraid, we can start to wipe it out. Maybe a leader fears failure. Perhaps a leader fears a defensive conversation. Or maybe we fear not having all the answers.
- Say the fear out loud to a trusted mentor, advisor or coach. When we can be truthful with someone else, we begin the process of defeating it.
- Partner with a coach to understand where the fear is coming from and identify your LeaderWithin to help you choose ways to let it go and march onwards.
5. Leading With Courage Grows Leadership
In the end, confidence is of course important to being a strong leader, but courage is taking the necessary action to make changes and grow your leadership. When we lead with courage, we model the way for others to see how important it is to be brave even in the face of uncertainty. As for me, I was able to draw on my courage to take on the presentation to senior leaders which helped me grow to be a better and more impactful leader.