I recently read an article based on the newly released book, The Corner Office, in which New York Times columnist Adam Bryant shares the themes that emerged from his interviews with more than 70 chief executives and other leaders. He synthesized his findings down to five traits that CEOs look for in leaders:
- Passionate curiosity
- Battle-hardened confidence
- Team smarts
- A simple mind-set
- Fearlessness
While I found the list interesting, I was most drawn to the last trait – fearlessness. The article presented fearlessness as a somewhat rare character trait embodied by a few emboldened leaders who dared to challenge the status quo. What baffles me is if CEOs value fearlessness so highly, why don’t organizations put more emphasis on cultivating this quality to be part of the culture? It often seems organizations do exactly the opposite.
The cost of valuing compliance and sameness over diversity of thought and risk taking comes clearly into focus when the stakes are highest. During the height of the recession I watched some organizations get creative and take risks to better position themselves to emerge in stronger positions, while others retracted into fearful places, cutting everything in site without giving much thought to longer term implications, and resorting to intimidation to get compliance. That’s the difference between fearless and fearful leadership.
Organizations can cultivate a culture of fearlessness by:
Recent Comments