Last week, I wrote a short case for the bold leader. Over the course of the days that followed, it received decent traffic, but certainly not as much as what I have come to expect from one of my posts, and certainly not as much as what I have been receiving in recent weeks.
This fact could be caused by a number of factors, including normal variation, but I’m not writing today about web traffic or statistics. Regardless of actual cause, that reduced traffic led me to think about why the topic of leadership boldness might be less popular than other topics.
I mentioned this to my colleague and co-author Guy Harris, and he said, “Almost by definition, boldness isn’t going to be a popular topic, Kevin.” Guy often makes insightful comments that lead me to think further and deeper.
Boldness does, after all, require us to do, think, or decide something outside of the norm – something beyond what everyone else is thinking. If boldness was common practice, it wouldn’t require its own word – it wouldn’t be bold – it would be normal.
For the early part of my working life, and long before that, a standard and accepted model of leadership success was what we now call “command and control.” The boss was in charge, and they made the decisions (right or wrong). Their decisions were followed (without much/any conversation). Looking at this through today’s accepted leadership practices, many words might be applied to that approach, one of which might be “bold.”
Today, the model accepted, taught (including by me), and much more generally applied, is a model of leadership that includes engaging the ideas and inputs of others, involving others in goal setting and decision-making, and more. Share this model with the “strong, bold” leaders of a past era, and they might apply the word “wimp.”
Let’s pause for a couple of dictionary definitions (from Merriam-Webster.com).
bold – fearless before danger, or standing out prominently.
wimp – a weak, cowardly, or ineffectual person.
Am I suggesting today that we need to return to the command and control approach to leadership? Far from it.
Am I suggesting that being an engaging leader somehow makes one weak, cowardly, or ineffectual? Not necessarily.
What I am suggesting, and urge you to think about, is have we, in the name of being open, engaging, and enlightened leaders, lost our ability to be bold, make a decision, and take a stand?
I believe many people have.
Being a leader isn’t easy work. It requires intellect, wisdom, emotional intelligence, and a dedication to learning (among many other things). It also requires that we lead – that we define a vision and move toward it – encouraging, persuading, and influencing others to follow us.
Doing this requires a type of boldness, a willingness to stand out prominently, stand by our vision and values, and perhaps, in some ways, be fearless before danger. To not do this in proper measure and balance with others is certainly to be ineffectual and perhaps, in some cases, cowardly.
As with most things in leadership and life, the answer lies in a balance, not in the extremes. We should be neither despot nor wallflower.
But I fear, for the wrong reasons and by misinterpreting principles, too many leaders are being wimps.
Where you fall on this “bold/wimp” scale is a useful thing for you to consider; a willingness to ask yourself this question, in itself proves a type of boldness.
A willingness to implement based on your self-assessment, however is far more important.
Hi, Kevin
Interesting post and I will be sharing it.
Your comments reminded me of similar conversations I have engaged in over the years. I do believe that this dynamic tension between what you have nicely termed “bold” leadership and the more flexible “wimpy” leadership is due to our tendency to sell all-out solutions to our leadership problems.
Being a decisive leader is an easy sell … so easy that, as you point out, at one point was the preferred leadership approach. Never show doubt or weakness, make the decisions, and “influence forcefully” to get people to do what you want. An image of George S. Patton comes to mind, although he did not really lead consistently in that manner.
During the general cultural swing toward individualism that we experienced during the late Sixties into the 1980’s or so, the leadership pendulum swung to the other extreme. Everything became a discussion and we rightfully valued individuals, but wrongly downgraded the value of decisive leadership. We had to get everyone board or at least saluting someone’s brainstorm as it flapped on the corporate flagpole.
Now leaders are floundering a bit. The economy is making the leadership role a much more difficult one than in those earlier periods. We are not sure what style fits best now.
Of course, IMHO, both styles, as well as others not mentioned, are all valid dependent on the situation and the context. It’s that balance you point out.
John
Great article, Kevin. I think that sometimes today’s leaders have lost the art of “boldness” as a leadership trait. As an employee I believe I am being paid to speak up if I see something that might have the potential of hurting the company, as long as it is in a respectful and appropriate manner. John Maxwell’s book, The 360 Degree Leader” addresses this very concept. You don’t have to be the boss, CEO or COO to be a leader in your company. A good boss will value this type of person and knows that in the long run, will make him/her look better.
Great Article.
I confess I do like the idea of “engaging the ideas and inputs of others” but it is honestly not leadership if a person ducks behind the input of others rather than takes responsibility for making a decision.
It also seems that it is disingenuous to wear the label of leader if leading simply means a person is first in line to take a poll, work to a consensus, or seek a compromise.
Thanks Kevin for a thoughtful challange about what it means to be a bold leader.
I think you summarized it perfectly Kevin! “The answer lies in the balance, not in the extremes”. Knowing when to wear each hat is certainly one of the keys to success for a leader.. Great stuff!