Leadership Isn't for Cowards

How to Drive Performance by Challenging People and Confronting Problems

How people live is far more important than what they say - especially for leaders. This book is about courageous leadership, whether leading a small team of just a couple of people, a large department or an entire organisation.

"Messing with people's lives"

A strong point that Staver makes is the importance for leaders to realise that as such they have huge influence on the lives of others and must take responsibility for how that impacts them. As a leader, everything you do or say (or don't do and don't say) will be scrutinised, evaluated and made meaning of.

So, as a leader, you must have the courage to achieve the results required while never losing sight of the human impact you are having.

ATTACK

ATTACK is the acronym Staver uses to capture the key elements of courageous leadership.

1. Accept the circumstances - this means facing the situation exactly as it is, being realistic about your own strengths and limitations and working effectively with the current circumstances. Staver here distinguishes between destructive denial (where refusal to accept reality has negative consequences) and constructive denial, where a person presses on to inspire achievement against the odds.
2. Take action - create a considered balance between readiness and taking risks.
3. Take responsibility - courageous leaders take absolute responsibility for their own thinking and actions while also developing people to be accountable through alignment of values within the culture and the avoidance of blame.
4. Acknowledge progress - this is a balance between recognising effort as well as achievement, and also getting the level of recognition right; being overly acknowledging can be as damaging as being too harsh.
5. Commit to new habits - Staver claims the difference between ineffectual leaders and great leaders is a commitment to new habits and strategies. As with responsibility, the goal here is to develop self as well as others.
6. Kindle "new life" for both the leader and those they lead — this is about building the passion to accomplish more.

"One man with courage makes a majority."