The Heart of Leadership by Mark Miller

Author:Mark Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 2013-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Price of Leadership

Blake was excited to meet with Debbie to update her on his previous visit.

This morning, Blake and Debbie met in the parking lot as they approached the shop.

“How are you this morning?” Debbie asked.

“I’m doing okay.”

Debbie knew Blake well enough to know he wasn’t telling her the whole truth.

“Okay …” she hesitated. “Let’s get our drinks and find a table.” A few moments later they were seated in their usual spot.

“How’d the meeting go with Molly?”

“Well, Molly clearly lives out her belief that leaders respond with courage.”

“She does. That’s one of the reasons many people love her … and others don’t.”

“I guessed that responding with courage would not always be popular,” Blake said.

“Your instincts are correct, not everyone is a fan of Molly Ortega.” Debbie affirmed Blake’s intuition. “It just wouldn’t be productive to display some of the letters and emails she receives,” Debbie said with a grin.

“I guess making everyone happy is out of the question,” Blake said, thinking out loud.

“When leaders lead well, not everyone is going to be happy.”

“Wouldn’t that be a good goal?”

“If you feel the need to make everyone happy, you should be a wedding planner not a leader.”

“I don’t understand,” Blake confessed.

Debbie explained, “Leaders don’t try to make people unhappy. However, leaders just know, progress is always preceded by change.”

“And some people don’t like change,” Blake added.

“Right. So if we’re leading well, we’re driving change. The unfortunate by-product is almost always some unhappy people.

“Let’s take Molly as an example. She has always been willing to initiate necessary change. This requires courage. Did she tell you she terminated several principals in the district last year?”

“No, she didn’t mention that.”

“She also closed two schools and removed more than a dozen teachers. She took action. She didn’t wait. As a result, she didn’t make everyone happy.”

“Wow. We didn’t talk about that side of responding with courage.” Blake had to process that a minute.

“If there were no challenge, there would be no need for courage—or leadership. It’s one of the hardest parts of the job.”

“How did she know she was doing the right thing when she closed schools and terminated faculty?”

“You’ll have more insight on the answer to that question after a few more visits. How are you doing on responding with courage?”

“Not very well, I’m afraid.”

Debbie thought to herself, this must be why he’s not himself this morning. “Please tell me more.”

“I would say more hit-and-miss. I seem to have lost some of my courage over the years. Is that possible?”

“Sure. It happens all the time. You often see that in people who feel defeated or hopeless.”

“I’m not hopeless,” Blake protested.

“I’m not saying you are; I’m just saying that is one of the circumstances that suppress courage.”

“What else?”

“Fear, stress, workload.”

“How can workload diminish courage?”

“If you’ve got more work than you can physically do, you’re less likely to enter the fray and make a courageous decision. However, once you’ve cultivated any leadership character trait, it usually shows up in one form or another.”

“Why?”

“Leadership character, like other character traits, once established, is hard to hide.

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