Inspirational Leadership is Risky Business
There was always a lot of talk, but there was rarely any progress. I was worn out at the end of every meeting. The leadership team was stuck. Therefore the whole company was stuck.
Leadership through risk avoidance inspires nobody! If a leader wants to have committed followers, the leader must be willing to take some risks. Otherwise, the whole organization will be stuck in a quagmire of fear and doubt.
Risky Business
Dumb Leaders
“I have no idea what I am facing. I have not evaluated the rewards of success or the consequences of failure. I do not have a plan. But, lets go!”
That leader is not taking a risk. That leader is not thinking! When a leader acts that way, the leader is setting up the team and the individuals on the team for catastrophe. That is just dumb.
Fearful Leaders
“Let’s be sure we examine everything before we jump in. I need to know every possible outcome. This seams like too bold a move. Can we just go slow or implement some of the plan so we don’t create any new problems? If we do move forward, let’s be sure we get approval from headquarters first.”
A leader who wants guarantees of success before moving forward only guarantees mediocrity and stagnation. Too often these fearful leaders act like because there is a possibility of failure, that failure is likely.
Leadership is risky business. If I am not willing to take some risk as a leader, then nothing will change. Leaders lead change. Managers manage the status quo.
There is a difference between gaining wisdom and gaining fear. Click here.
Inspirational Leaders
“What’s the situation/opportunity? What’s the upside? What is the downside? What could go wrong? What are the contingencies if things do go wrong? Will this plan lead us closer to achieving our ultimate goals/vision? If we do this, we must be 100% committed. The risk is worth it. Let’s go!”
The inspirational leader examines the risks and the benefits before moving forward. The inspirational leader asks hard questions and tries to mitigate and prepare for the risk. Risk avoidance is not the inspirational leader’s goal – progress is.
The inspirational leader understands that moving forward involves some risk. But when the rewards outweigh the risk, the inspirational leader takes action.
The Bottom Line:
- Is there risk involved in trying new things? Always.
- Is avoiding all risk possible? Never.
- Am I leading if risk avoidance is my primary strategy? No.
If I am in the business of leading, then I better be in the business of inspiring others to follow. Action inspires others to follow. Leadership through risk avoidance inspires nobody.
The inspirational leader knows that the only way to eliminate risk is to do nothing. People want to follow leaders who lead them wisely towards growth, progress and new opportunities.
I do not need to be a great orator or be full of charisma to be inspirational. To be an inspirational leader, I need to lead people and teams towards something new and better. I need to take action. That is a truly inspirational.
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Question:
What opportunities have you seen leaders miss because they were more concerned about the risks involved?
I agree with most of the comments. The true question then becomes “How do you deal with a boss who practices risk avoidance consistently, who fails to even manage the status quo, and who lacks any inspirational characteristics at all”?
The space here is totally inadequate to answer those questions here Allan.
Please feel free to contact me at dave@alslead.com. I would be happy to hear from you so we can discuss the specifics of your situation.
The best answer I can give now is that you must not give up. You need to lead upwards. Unless this is a person lacking character. If that is the case, then it may be time to get out from under their authority.
I know that, Dave, and I wasn’t looking for an answer from you. I was trying to stimulate additional conversations on the subject. I am at a point in life where reflections on past circumstances present questions for discussions and, hopefully, direction to younger professionals in an effort to provide guidance when confronted with such situations. The term “lead upwards” may be understood by you and I, as graduates of USMA and previous Army officers, however when dealing with, and guiding future leaders in government , business, and industry, use of such terms is meaningless unless further defined.
I, again, find myself at the end of one career and looking for another. I enjoy your discussions, and am able to glean much information from them as I am working on putting together a college level course on leadership and ethic. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Allen.
I am thankful for the lessons learned. Especially the hard ones learned through experience. I am pleased that my materials will be something that you add to your own wisdom on this subject to help others.