Managerial Courage - It's a Key Element for Today's Manager

Coaching and teaching on how to be a manager in today's world involves many concepts. One of those concepts is the development of managerial courage. It's a key element towards any new manager's developmental plan. In a nutshell, what managerial courage means to me is the ability to lead a group of diverse people and personalities through challenging times. This ability encompasses making an objective decision and doing what is right under the circumstances despite your decision being unpopular with the people you lead. No one specific quality can define this action. I think it's made up of a conglomeration of several different qualities. Maybe you know of some others to complement the following list.

Values: Let's face it, trust plays an enormous part in your ability to lead others. This is where values come into play when important decisions are on the line. Leaders will be faced with decisions that could affect their popularity or could jeopardize some political standing. In doing so, courage takes form when a decision is made that cross checks these ends. Your internal messaging system takes over and acts like a compass pointing towards doing "what is right" despite possible adverse consequences.

Self-awareness: This ties into emotional intelligence (EQ), which can be a whole separate article into itself. But putting it succinctly, self-awareness can improve judgment especially in those challenging times and can identify those areas of opportunity for personal development. Also included here is the ability to use self-deprecating behavior in the right situations at the right time.

Humility: When a leader makes a mistake, it takes courage to admit it in public. This creates a sense of humility and shows you, the manager is not infallible. Too many times direct reports fall into the sense that our leaders should naturally have all the right answers. So, if your decision doesn't work out, admit to it and move on. Conversely, when the leader excels and succeeds after implementing a decision, a different form of courage takes shape when the leader openly recognizes the work of his team rather than "plugging" his own merits.

Confidence: Confidence is a natural trait of a born leader and is an obvious quality in managerial courage.

Objectivity: Most decisions require the development of facts and deciding when you have enough information to render a decision. This bodes well when you are providing feedback to a direct report, especially identifying areas of opportunity that a direct report may not want to hear.

Risk-taking: Many leaders have the desire to lead, but lack the willingness to take risks. Why, because you're "putting yourself out there" and there is a notion of courage that goes along with this. Taking risks of course is not a license to go out and run the organization with a hapless disregard for consequences. It includes delivering reasoned judgment but may not always be a popular belief with direct reports. This decision making process separates those with the desire to lead and those who decisively lead.

What are some ways to develop managerial courage?

1. Learning from experience: Practice managerial courage. For most people, this will be on the job training. For example, if you are providing negative feedback in a one-on-one session, be succinct and stick to the facts. Use empathy when appropriate. If your feedback session didn't go as well as you would have liked, self-reflect on it afterward. Is there anything that you could have stated better or in a different way?

2. Learning from feedback: Conversely, ask for feedback from your superiors and your direct reports. Directly ask them: Is there anything I should be doing or something I can do better? Some direct reports may be reluctant to give you honest feedback, but again, at least you are putting yourself out there, and this signals to your direct reports that you are open for improvement.

3. Learning from other people: You may have had a great boss or you may have had a lousy boss. What made them so?

4. Learning from courses: Check into leadership courses that can assist your development plan.

5. Read articles and books.

When was the last time you saw managerial courage in action? Did that person exhibit any of the above qualities? That's courage talking.

Spale, Susan, (n.d.), Managerial Courage, from Wolf Management Consultants, LLC, Website: http://www.wolfmotivation.com

Managerial Courage, (2008), from Corporate Insights, Website: http://www.corporateinsights.com

What does "Managerial Courage" Mean To You?, (n.d.), from Linked In, Website: http://www.Linkedin.com

Managerial Courage, (n.d.), Website: http://www.microsoft.com