People leadership requires courage. Think of a time you had to make tough decisions even when your employees disagreed. How did that impact you? What was the impact on the team? How did everyone ‘recover’ and continue working together?
In this week’s episode of Managing Well, Tonya Ladipo reflects on how she made it through a week of hard conversations and what she did to prepare for it.
Key Takeaways:
- Courageous leadership is not absent of risk, uncertainty, or fear. It requires thoughtfully making decisions in the hard moments in spite of fear.
- At times, courageous leadership is the big, public moment. But often, they are small, quiet moments that go unseen, but the ripple effect can be significant.
- Allow your values and integrity to guide you, especially in the hard moments. Courageous leaders regularly seek consultation with those who encourage them to stay accountable to their values.
Reflection Questions:
- What does standing in your integrity mean to you? What actions do you take to align with your integrity?
- Courageous leadership requires continual learning, self-reflection, and support. Who do you regularly seek input and consultation from? Do they have a growth mindset? Do they encourage your growth and learning as a leader?
- It’s common to seek guidance and support from people who are similar to you. Yet, people with different backgrounds, identities, and experiences have different perspectives that can be valuable to courageous leadership. What perspective is missing from those who support you?
Action Items:
- List specific actions that courageous leaders take in big and small moments. Compare this ideal list to your current leadership actions.
- Make a list of those who support and encourage your courageous leadership.
- Identity 2-3 people with different and valuable perspectives based on their different lived experiences who you can consult with about courageous leadership.
Additional Resources:
The Managing Well podcast, with host Tonya Ladipo, talks about wellness in the workplace with people leaders, mental health professionals, HR experts, and more. Click the link to subscribe to the podcast and get the latest episodes.
