Leadership is Revealed When Things Aren't Easy
“Leadership isn’t tested when it’s easy. It’s revealed when it isn’t.”
I don’t know where that quote came from but I agree.
When everything is clear, calm and agreed, most people can look like a leader but that’s not where it counts.
Where it really counts is when it shows up in the moments where:
· Something needs to be said, but no one is saying it
· A decision needs to be made, but everyone is circling
· The tone of the room is drifting, and no one is taking responsibility for it.
I work a lot with the Leadership Circle who help leaders become more aware, intentional and effective in how they lead and one of their central tenets is that effective leaders have both Courageous Authenticity and Integrity and both show up to others.
What does that mean? Well, put simply…
· Leaders go first.
· They speak when it would be easier to stay quiet.
· They name what others are skirting around.
· They take a position before there’s consensus.
· Not to dominate or to be right but to create movement.
The danger of not doing that is in the absence of leadership, something else takes over: hesitation, politics, lowest-common-denominator thinking.
Herd mentality can form quickly, can’t it? Not because people lack intelligence, but because they’re watching each other.
Waiting for…
· Someone to set the direction
· Someone to make it safe to be honest.
· Someone to go first.
That’s the job…
· Not to have all the answers, but to create clarity where there isn’t any yet.
· Not to avoid tension, but to use it productively.
· Not to follow the mood in the room, but to shape it.
So a simple question to sit with:
When it matters, do you go first or do you wait to see where the room lands?
Because leadership isn’t tested when it’s easy, it’s revealed when it isn’t.
And if you want to know more about the work I do through Leadership Circle that can help you as an individual or a team, just let me know.
Tracy
