Page 109 - Fearless Leadership

96 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

personal context. The leadership exploration section at the end of this
chapter will help you identify resignation.
Chances are that you have some degree of resignation—we all do.
Others notice your resignation by a change in your behavior. But resig-
nation is pervasive throughout all organizations from the top to the
bottom.
There are two messages in all of this. First, don’t give up on people.
Resignation masks anxiety and discouragement, and it makes even highly
competent leaders appear detached or disengaged. Providing that compe-
tency is not the issue, it is always worth the investment of time and money
to work with a leader in jeopardy to produce a breakthrough in his or her
effectiveness.
Second, don’t give up on yourself. You may be stoically accepting resig-
nation and working hard despite feelings of discouragement and disillu-
sionment. But as you are beginning to see, fearless leadership is not the
absence of resignation or automatic behaviors. It is the courage to con-
front them to expand personal and organizational context.

THE VICTIM TRIANGLE AND HOW IT WORKS

Victim mentality and resignation go hand in hand. When you become
resigned, you inadvertently adopt victim thinking and behaviors that lead
to viewing others as the opponents. This subtle process happens below the
surface of our awareness and agitates responsible leaders when they dis-
cover they have fallen prey to victim mentality.
If you are like most leaders, you won’t like the word “victim” applied
to you in any capacity. But that is exactly why it is used; the word rankles
us and gets our attention. Leaders do not view themselves as victims;
however, victim mentality can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Even you.
Victim mentality is based on the view that there is an ever-present
enemy, adversary, or opponent working against you. When you become
resigned that something is not possible or that change is unachievable, vic-
tim mentality takes over. You feel powerless to alter what appears to be
fixed, and you would rather deal with the consequences of your behavior
instead of taking accountability.