Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times
by Bonni Carson DiMatteo, CMC

Courageous leadership is the ability to reach inside and outside to overcome your fears and vulnerabilities and trust your wisdom to find ways to transform the future.

"Success is not final, Failure is not fatal.
It is the courage to continue that counts." ~Winston Churchill

NO EASY ANSWERS
A leader is someone who can inspire others to commit themselves to a bold vision. There is often an unspoken expectation that leaders know all the answers. Often leaders themselves share that assumption. However, when turbulent times strike, the" answer" can be elusive. The fine line between right and wrong, between effective and ineffective, becomes hazy and unclear. Leaders have to find new ways and often new directions.

NO GPS
Leaders are being called upon to make difficult decisions, with no GPS. As a leader you realize all too well that your response to the crises will shape the future of the company and dictate the venture's short-term and long-term outcomes. Simultaneously you are being challenged to keep the morale and engagement of the staff.

THE ANSWERS ARE INSIDE
Now, more than ever, leaders need to dig deep within themselves to find the courage to be resilient, open to change. At the same time, leaders must project an aura of confidence and hope and positive energy that inspires and galvanizes everyone. Leaders must fight the compelling downward spiral of negativity and hopelessness that punctuate turbulent times.

STRESS AND LEADERSHIP
Stress creates a fight or flight response. It would be easy to become angry, desperate or withdrawn. While there is a tendency to flee into action or withdraw into isolation, courageous leaders must use this time as an opportunity to assess not only their company's SWOT, but their own. A leader's first job is to de-stress themselves and the culture so that a more productive effort can make a difference.

LEADERSHIP SWOT
To go forward and become most effective, you have to understand your leadership Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats or SWOT.

S - What are your strengths as a leader? Can they become stressed and stretched into overuse in turbulent times?

W - What are your weaknesses as a leader? How do these turbulent times exaggerate these weaknesses?

O - What are your opportunities as a leader? Are your opportunities to re-invent and refocus clouded by the turbulence?

T - What are the internal and external threats and barriers that hinder your ability to lead? Do you have a tendency for flight or fight? How is that impacting your ability to inspire? Might you be isolating yourself or over-reacting?

Courageous leaders must have a very strong sense of their inner strength and not camouflage it with bravado. The greatest keys to leading in tumultuous times is to simultaneously reach inside to check that your weaknesses are not overcoming your strengths and to reassess the opportunity that is hidden within the threat.

LEADERSHIP IS A TEAM SPORT
Counter to popular myth, leadership is a team sport, not a marathon. Leaders do not have all the answers, but they should stay focused on the important questions for themselves and their company.

REDISCOVER YOUR LEADERSHIP VISION AND VOICE
You must keep their vision for the future clear, as well as expectations for the present realistic. You must set a strong direction for the company, using the present challenge as opportunity for change and growth. If you stick to their core values as well as abide by their principles, you will not only be able to make good decisions, but also lead their company in a positive direction.

In these turbulent times, the true grit of leaders is tested. The greatest courage during these times, however, is to look inside and reach outside to cultivate the wisdom and ability to lead.

HALLMARKS OF COURAGOUS LEADERSHIP IN TURBULENT TIMES

• Resilience: Change is a constant. Make yourself and your company culture 'change-resilient'.
• Redefine: Rethink your future vision and communicate it as a clarion call.
• Refine: Take the opportunity to fix and upgrade processes, procedures, and people. Your company's future growth depends on it.
• Re-energize: Amp up the people while keeping your message positive, hopeful, and realistic. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
• Revive: Take a minute to revive yourself. Reassess your personal S.W.O.T., identify the resources you need (peer advisory boards, coaches, mentors, learning and retooling, etc.) to raise your level of courageous leadership.