Page 37 - Fearless Leadership

24 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

Victim and entitlement mentality is replaced by ownership, and people
speak up and take accountability for enterprise results. There is an end-
less buzz of greatness that motivates people to do more than they believed
was possible. It takes only one leader to confront resignation and trans-
form others.
In a business-as-usual environment, you will hear, “I’m burdened, I’m
pressured, I have too much to do and not enough time,” and “If others
would get their act together, I could do my job.” This attitude adds a heav-
iness and weight to the organization and stifles leaders who are commit-
ted to aggressive goals. In a business-as-usual culture, complacency
prevails, and everything is dragged down by a pessimistic view of circum-
stances and people.
Fearless leaders produce exceptional results by interrupting the cycle
of automatic and unproductive behavior. They end suspicion, turf wars,
and victim mentality and do not allow leaders to work in isolation. They
build an organization where performance, innovation, productivity, and
employee engagement soar. Lewis, a CEO of a financial organization, rec-
ognized the need for organizational change even though the company
reported solid earnings.

When a Leader Is Not Willing to Settle for
“Good Enough”
The company had good business results in spite of leaders and
employees engaging in counterproductive behavior. Lewis saw
opportunities for growth and was not content to allow people to be
complacent. Over several years, the company brought in four differ-
ent consulting groups to address the lack of leadership alignment and
low employee engagement. But his leaders continued to “chew up
the consulting groups and spit them out,” as Lewis described it.

What Happened. We became Lewis’s fifth consulting group. We
worked with Lewis and his senior team in a leadership session dur-
ing which he confronted his blind spots and inspired others to do
the same. Addressing years of unresolved issues lifted a considerable
weight off the team. By the end of the session, they were committed
to each other and fully aligned.