Should You Lead With Strength Or Courage?
Strength is a word that’s come up for a lot of my clients recently: “I want the strength to lead with impact during this challenging time.” “Strength looks like me having that hard conversation with my father while there’s still time.” “I want my team to be stronger leaders who hold their staff accountable.”
Strength is often the word that gets used in our conversations at work and home, but I think it is not strength that we need to summon to be impactful leaders. Instead, it is courage.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines strength as “the capacity for exertion” or “the power to resist force.”
It defines courage as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.”
As humans in today’s day and age, we don’t experience a lot of danger anymore, but we face fear and difficulty on the regular.
Instead of resisting fear and difficulty or powering through it as the strength definition suggests, we can be more impactful leaders by summoning courage and simply doing the thing that is hard or scares us.
Because it is courage that makes us impactful leaders at work + home:
Courage is accepting 100% responsibility for the outcomes of your professional and personal life, without blaming others, making excuses, or waiting for someone else to swoop in and save you.
Courage is choosing to lead from both your heart and your conscious mind, rather than letting your emotions hijack your behavior.
Courage is admitting you were wrong, that you don’t know the answer, and asking for help when you need it.
Courage is holding your team members accountable with kindness: “Dude, smile more.” Or “Did you realize that you rolled your eyes several times in that meeting? I think it makes the team shut down and quit sharing their ideas.”
Courage is fostering a culture of empowerment, where you are not always right or get to make all the decisions, even if that means things may get messy or feel out of control for you.
Courage is recognizing that what you admire in someone else is also within you – just waiting to come out or be enhanced!
Courage is going to that place of hurt or disappointment inside you so that you can empathize with the challenge your team or family member is going through.
Courage is trusting and inviting others in, even if it means they could leave or disappoint you.
Courage is being willing to stand out, especially when it feels easier (in the moment) to fit in.
Courage is loving and embracing all parts of yourself – the parts that were damaged or broken, the parts that failed, the parts that don’t look or sound like others, the parts we tend to keep hidden from the rest of the world, the parts that contributed to some of your greatest attributes.
Courage is having those tough-love conversations, even if you don’t like to rock the boat. Even if you just want everyone to like you. Even if it requires you to be vulnerable.
Courage is the willingness to see those you lead as the remarkable humans they are.
Courage is the willingness to be seen (without your masks and armor).
Courage is you. Thank you for being an awesome member of the Joy Discovered community!
Love,
💜 Your Leadership Coach
Sara
| 24th Jul 24
Well said! For too long the words “be strong” have been used when “be courageous” would have moved women and men forward in their personal growth. Recently I was writing the eulogy for my mother and realized that what I had seen as strength was really courage. My mom was a courageous woman!
Sara Mueller | 24th Jul 24
What a gift to have your mom as such a courageous woman and role model for you. May you be surrounding by these memories and her spirit when you’re missing her.