Leading through moral courage

Today, many of us are anxious, worried and overwhelmed by all that is happening around us. The one thing we need more than anything else is empathy.

Unfortunately, this dose of humanity is increasingly deficient in leadership. From my observation of tens of people, they feel isolated from their leaders. This gap widens more in crisis or periods of uncertainty. And it does not discriminate between personal or professional realms of their lives.

When crisis strikes, the culture of a firm matters more and becomes more visible. Granted, there is a sprinkling of hope here and there. Crisis exposes the underlying gluttonous pursuit of more power and control over others. It hinges on greed and poor self-esteem. The true character of those in the higher echelons of an organization begins to show.

There is hardly any individual, business or organization that COVID-19 has not affected. Those that had moral courage to develop a people-culture were agile to pivot and stay afloat. In times of plenty, they invested in their people, remained frugal and built reserves. When hibernation became a necessity, they were ready. They had built a culture that promoted ‘We’ rather than ‘Me’.

Yet, others had no moral courage to build people-centric or ethical organizations. In other words, they forgot to crisis-proof themselves. Many conversations I have with clients, friends and family, paint a disturbing picture. There is a discordance in the moral perspectives of leadership within their workplace. Their organization’s claim of its values does not match up to how it actually acts or behaves.

An individual, business or organization without a moral compass will self-destruct. Excessive indulgence in luxury characterizes its moral decay. We have to search deep and far to find examples of CEOs and senior managers that have taken pay cuts. Yet, redundancy letters to low-cadre staff are being dished out like they are going out of fashion.

God has created lands with lakes and rivers for man to live. And the desert so that he can find his soul.” ~ Tuareg proverb

The reality is that leadership has lost its soul. How many times have we seen leaders or corporations take advantage of the vulnerable? Look at the news. People have to resort to mass demonstrations to access their rights. A right to life. A right to exist free of oppression, discrimination or segregation.

To lead through moral courage, there are three baseline traits a credible leader must own. These are clear values, trust and being coachable.

If I could choose one leadership trait, it would be having clarity of my values and living them daily. A real leader is one who lives life through high moral standards. Moral leadership lays out  values or meaning for people to live by, inspiration to act and motivation to hold oneself accountable.

Virtue is moral excellence. Personal virtues are characteristics that promote collective and individual greatness.

A leader with values thinks less of themselves and more of others. They are solid pillars that stand even when everything else fails. Values are the motive behind purposeful action.

You are Trustworthy

Trust serves people, shows justice, dispenses honesty, builds community and respects others. Trust implies instinctive unquestioning belief in and reliance upon you the leader. When you are leader worth following, people feel safe and secure around you. To be a trusted individual, people have a firm belief in your reliability as much as your ability.

In Five Dysfunctions of a Team, absence of trust is the basal challenge when leading people. Fear of being vulnerable with people prevents building trust with them. A courageous leader is not afraid to be vulnerable. Challenges and weaknesses become opportunities for growth with other people.

You are Coachable

Being coachable is to remain available to learn and do things better. A leader is not a know-it-all. I like how Gloveworx describes coachability…

“Coachability is not a technical skill or an inherent ability. It is a mental attitude. It is defined by your ability to be coached. It is determined by your emotional ability to withstand the necessary constructive criticism and pressure from your coach. It requires you to do so without losing your positive spirit and without slackening in your motivation and effort. It is also defined by your ability to adapt and to improve as required.” 

A leader who is coachable displays kindness and concern for others. It is investing in self-care means that you are willing to shift despite your position. People feel your empathy, experience your truthfulness, and bath in your forgiveness. They know when things go wrong, reconciliation and restoration are around the corner.

There are no shortcuts to the top of the palm tree.” ~ Cameroonian proverb

To lead through moral courage, you must be bold and embrace courageous wisdom. Only then will you be able to be of service to humanity, and yourself.