A Medal from the Wizard?

In battle, under fire, under siege and when the ship is sinking - all clear pictures of when leaders formal or informal find and use courage to motivate themselves and others to action. What about in business and organizations today. Is courage a critical competency of leadership? Courage to make an unpopular decision? Courage to make a risky decision? What about courage to make a decision you know is on a fine line between the positive short term outcomes and the potential negative impacts to the company long term? Or maybe that's not courage but one losing sight of their values and the values of the company e.g., the decisions bordering on greed made by some of the financial institutions the past few years.

I believe courage is a critical competency that all effective leaders need to have that aligns with their moral compass. The question for today is: Is courage hard-wired or earned like the Cowardly Lion whose courage meter went up after being awarded a symbolic medal by the great Wizard of Oz? Are male leaders hard-wired with courage to make the courageous decisions versus female leaders who may appear to have a void in the courage area?

Anne Doyle, journalist and auto industry communications executive in the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame and president of Anne Doyle Strategies, a leadership and communications consulting practice says in her recent blog: "Our lives and ambitions today far exceed the female brain wiring that hasn’t changed much in millions of years, not to mention the possibilities for generations of foremothers". Anne's blog “Expect To Be Tested” provides great reading and is rich for discussion. Take a look and then as always ...let's keep the conversation going.

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