Page 167 - Harnessing the Strengths

150 ■ Servant-Leadership in the Intercultural Practice

Courage Versus Caution

In the literature on servant-leadership, an image arises of
the leader as someone who, through his or her courage and
visionary capabilities, achieves remarkable results. The
truth is often otherwise.
If a marketing manager puts forward a groundbreak-
ing—but risky—plan at a board meeting and the CFO’s
reaction is, “be cautious,” then the servant-CEO has to act.
Courage isn’t everything. Companies like the Dutch Ahold,
the Belgian-Dutch Fortis, and the French Vivendi were led

almost to the abyss by their (over)confident leaders. In poli-
tics, we know President Bush as a man of courage. What do
these men have in common? Indeed, they do not see their
courage in a context of caution.
But being too cautious is also not the answer. Compa-
nies such as Cable & Wireless and Unilever have not, thanks
to their overly cautious leaders, always reached the desired
results. In politics, the same can be said of President Mit-
terrand and Chancellor Schroeder. That is what happens if
cautiousness is not placed in the context of courage.
A servant-leader should not be seduced into making a
choice between daring and caution—“either-or”; he or she
neither does a bit of both—“and-and.” What he or she does
do is to fully integrate both sides—“through-through.”
Decisions that are made in this way are enriching and
successful because they build on each other. In other words,
they have integrity, defi ned as “creating a whole by integrat-
ing opposites.” The servant-leader searches for solutions that
are characterized by combining a high level of risk with a high
level of security. However, devaluation occurs when these two
values frustrate each other. The fi rst tension produces a “vir-
tuous circle” while the second produces a “vicious circle.”