7 Principles of Courageous of Leadership

If I had to ask you, think of a character or a person who lacks courage in leadership, would you think of this if I were king of the forest. Okay, that was really bad. But on today's Bizgraph podcast, I'm gonna talk about seven characteristics of courageous leaders. Hello there and welcome to another edition of the daily Biz Growl podcast. My name is Brent Kel, Belly of Bisgres. And first of all, thanks for putting up with my really bad cowardly lion singing. But as I said, when you think of leaders or people who are lacking courage, certainly the coward, cowardly lion comes to mind. You know one of the cowardly lions famous quotes from the movie the wizard of Oz in 1939 when he said, courage. What makes a king out of a slave? Courage. What makes the flag on the mass wave? Courage. Courage. What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage. What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage. What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage. What makes the hot knot so hot? What puts the ape in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got right? So what is leadership? Courage. In my continual study of developing my own leadership skills and helping others become better leaders, I have found that one of the most challenging aspects of leadership is courage. Right? And we often talk about fear, but what would be the opposite in some ways, right? Courage. Leaders are hard to find because as a leader, you have to not only be accountable to yourself, self leadership, but to those you lead and serve. So how can you become a courageous leader? I think there's. There's many, many principles, many, many different ideas. But there's seven principles that I want to talk about that are found in leaders that I've either experienced in serving, you know, serving with or being part of, or I've experienced or seen in action. Seven principles that are found in leaders who show courage. Number one is they seek the truth. You'll never find yourself until you find your own truth. Trust is the most important thing in leadership. And if you don't have trust, you don't have anything. Trust, though, starts with your own character. For others to trust and respect you, you must first understand your own value system and your own beliefs and build a deep and solid foundation from those. So you need to have a unwavering set of principles that you stand for. Otherwise what will happen is you'll get tossed in the wind, right? You'll be challenged with things that may alter who you really are. But because you're not rooted in your own truth, you can waver. Number two is change. Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. The best leaders, the most courageous leaders, are willing to give up to go up. They're open to change, and if it'll help them and their team grows, they will do it. But guess what? Change takes courage. Most people resist change, and they'll fight to keep the status quo. Now, change for the sake of change isn't necessarily a good thing. But change, when it affects and has results in positive action, is important. And leaders don't just accept change, they willingly embrace change. Number three, express your convictions. Kind of goes back to your truth, but a little bit different. Component convictions help us to stand alone. The test of courage really is when we're in the minority, right? When maybe other people around us, the majority don't agree with us, but we stand in our conviction. And here's what I want to say in this. The right decision isn't always the most popular decision. Courage and leadership will require decisions that will turn some people away. But when you have those deep convictions, stand firm in those beliefs. Number four, Courageous leadership is about overcoming obstacles. Whatever you do, someone will think you're wrong. Expect trouble, but project courage. I've written about this before, but there will always be critics. That's especially true in leadership. But in times of doubt and uncertainty, look at every challenge as an opportunity to display your courage in leadership. Number five, learn and grow. You haven't learned until you step out, take a risk, and you do something new. True leaders are always learning and growing. They're never satisfied. They're never complacent. Man, I hate that word, complacent. There's no reward until you're willing to step out of your comfort zone and learn new things. Leaders are lifelong learners. They never stop learning. Number six, take the high road. Famous quarterback Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach said, there is no traffic jam on the extra mile. What does that mean? It means that when you go above and beyond to serve others, you will find less congestion. That's because few leaders and organizations reach beyond average. It takes courage to step out and do things that others aren't willing to do. Take the high road. Number seven, lead others. Leadership is the expression of courage that compels others to do the right thing. You know, John Maxwell, my leadership mentor, says it best. Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less. When you lead with excellence, you will be acting as a model and mentor to those you serve. Understand this. Great leaders don't just add followers. Great leaders add more leaders. So ask yourself, are you a courageous leader? Are you part of these seven principles? Examine them and see if you're not, where can you improve? I hope you found today's daily Biz Growl Podcast helpful. If you want to learn more, read more. Check out my website@brentmkelly.com or biz griz.com and I've got programs and free downloads that you can check out there. Also, if you like this podcast, Please go to iTunes and Stitcher Radio and leave me a positive review. I will say thank you kindly. Until next time, I challenge and encourage you to go face your grizzly.