Page 145 - Fearless Leadership

132 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

ior or firing the individual. You can provide the individual with the
resources to honestly examine his or her blind spots, make a new choice
about how to engage with others, and master new skill sets for repairing
relationships and building committed partnerships. For the vast majority,
when people feel supported and safe to explore their impact on others, they
take accountability and permanently change their behavior.

Choice 5: You Must Have the Courage to Be Unreasonable
and Make the Tough Calls
Are you a reasonable leader? This is an obvious trick question because if
you tell me you are reasonable, my response will be, “That’s unfortunate.
Let’s see what we can do about your condition.”
Most leaders consider reasonableness to be a positive trait, but even the
words used to describe being reasonable—sensible, rational, and realis-
tic—return us to tolerating “good enough.” Leaders are expected to be rea-
sonable. They set reasonable goals, reasonable expectations, and make
reasonable demands on others. Their objectives and commitments are
based upon not exceeding the comfort zone of the past. Reasonable lead-
ers accept excuses, rationalizations, and justifications as a way to explain
why things are the way they are. Moreover, reasonable leaders rely on logic
to find their answers and distrust the emotional side of intelligence. But
in the long run, being reasonable keeps leaders stuck in behaviors of endur-
ing and avoiding, instead of confronting and transforming.
Unreasonable leaders demand much more of themselves and others,
and refuse to use circumstances as an excuse for the lack of results. They
make the tough calls, hold themselves and others accountable for explicit
behavioral standards, and set a clear direction. In times of turmoil, fear-
less leaders rally people by taking a bold stand and bringing a fierce deter-
mination to get through anything and everything together.

DECLARING A BOLD STAND AND RECONNECTING
PEOPLE TO THE ORGANIZATION
A participant in one of our leadership sessions asked, “How do I believe
again?” Her question is telling and significant. Even when people are
resigned and disheartened, they continue to search for a way to believe in
the organization. No one wants to feel powerless and wait for others to act,