The meaning of courage in leadership has changed from “command and control” to joining the dots of the available perspectives as a way to innovate. Now, the key task for leaders is to listen actively. Yolanda Blavo and Grace Lordan write that, with the acceleration of artificial intelligence, knowledge alone is not much of a competitive advantage and the odds of a single leader having innovative ideas may be diminished

Blavo, Yolanda

Lordan, Grace

English

LSE Research Online

15/06/2023, 14:30 Courageous leaders listen, not roar | LSE Business Reviewhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2023/05/31/leaders-with-courage-listen-rather-than-roar/ 1/7Yolanda Blavo Grace Lordan May 31st, 2023Leaders with courage listen, rather than roar1 comment | 19 sharesEstimated reading time: 4 minutesThe meaning of courage in leadership has changed from “command andcontrol” to joining the dots of the available perspectives as a way toinnovate. Now, the key task for leaders is to listen actively. Yolanda Blavo andGrace Lordan write that, with the acceleration of arti cial intelligence,knowledge alone is not much of a competitive advantage and the odds of asingle leader having innovative ideas may be diminished. The image of a courageous leader has evolved over the last three decades.Previously, courageous leaders were those with great command and control:stomping around, making demands and micromanaging their team members intheir tasks. They had an idea and their team executed it, no questions asked.15/06/2023, 14:30 Courageous leaders listen, not roar | LSE Business Reviewhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2023/05/31/leaders-with-courage-listen-rather-than-roar/ 2/7In today’s workplace, things are different. The acceleration of arti cialintelligence during the fourth industrial revolution has meant that knowledgealone is not much of a competitive advantage, and the odds of any one leaderhaving innovative ideas may be diminished. To get a competitive advantage,leaders need to stop roaring orders, and instead leverage the differentperspectives available within their team. Their role is to listen actively, keep anopen mind and join the dots of the perspectives available to them to innovate,create and give their company an edge over the competition. Never before hasthere been so much diverse talent available in the labour market, with womenand ethnically diverse colleagues smashing through glass ceilings and walls. Inaddition, there is, for the  rst time,  ve generations working together. Acourageous leader in today’s world is in a battle with their ego. Should theysucceed, their team will thrive.Here are seven habits that modern courageous leaders exhibit in the workplace:1. A courageous leader keeps their ego under controlAs human beings, each and every one of us can take actions to satisfy our ego.These actions could include seeking out information to support what wealready assume to be true and being dismissive to contradictory opinions. Acourageous leader is aware that without controlling their ego, they will avoidbeing challenged by their team members, to satisfy their ego’s desire to alwaysbe right so they can view themself in a positive light. Worse still, their ego willcause them to surround themself with people who are similar to them. Whatbetter way to stroke an ego, than to be surrounded by like-minded people whoagree with everything they say!It will hurt the ego for leaders to select team members who know more thanthem and have different perspectives. However, doing so will lead to betteroutcomes for both the leader and their organisation. Ample research has shownthat diverse perspectives are advantageous for problem-solving.2. Courageous leaders speak less and listen moreCourageous leaders keep their ego in check and never dominate theconversation. They never battle to get their point of view heard. Rather, they restsafe in the knowledge that they are the decision-maker. Instead, they make sure15/06/2023, 14:30 Courageous leaders listen, not roar | LSE Business Reviewhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2023/05/31/leaders-with-courage-listen-rather-than-roar/ 3/7they hone their active listening skills. They also make substantial efforts todemonstrate to others that they are listening to them. This includes showingthat you are open to their ideas by adjusting your posture, nodding their headsat appropriate times, and maintaining eye contact. Courageous leaders learn tostep back and listen to their employees’ perspectives, leading to more optimaldecision-making. By listening rather than speaking, courageous leaders avoidanchoring team members to their perspective. It enables a culture that allowsteam members to state their opinion, free of in uence of the views of theleaders.To show that you are actively listening you can:a. Jot down noteworthy points that are made and communicate where youagree or disagree.b. Ask follow-up questions for clari cation on certain points that were made.c. Assure the speaker that you will remember what they said beyond a singulardiscussion.3. Courageous leaders invite their team members to engage in dissentWhen courageous leaders consult team members to get their perspective, theyencourage dissent. They are always up to being challenged and changing theirminds. Courageous leaders have no problem pivoting or changing directionentirely. They also exhibit vulnerability and discuss openly with their teammembers the data and information they received that enabled them to changetheir minds. When a courageous leader makes a decision, they do not push forconsensus decision-making. Rather they pay attention to who has disagreedwith them.Some courageous leaders go further. They keep a record of the names of thepeople who disagreed with their decision-making, along with their rationale.This record enables courageous leaders to re ect on who they ignored once anoutcome from a decision is revealed. This is particularly useful to decipherwhether there is a person in the room who is being ignored, who should be moreactively included in decision-making.As a courageous leader you can also embrace dissent by adopting devil’sadvocates in which you invite someone to express a different opinion from what15/06/2023, 14:30 Courageous leaders listen, not roar | LSE Business Reviewhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2023/05/31/leaders-with-courage-listen-rather-than-roar/ 4/7appears to be the majority opinion. However, if the assigned person does notgenuinely have a contradicting belief to the majority, they may not present verystrong or convincing arguments. Therefore, it is best to encourage people whogenuinely disagree with the apparent consensus. Alternatively, leaders canselect some team members to form a red team that plays the role of acompetitor to a preferred solution. This approach puts the responsibility onmore than one team member to identify potential shortcomings of a plan.4. Courageous leaders admit their mistakesCourageous leaders recognise that they cannot get every decision correct. Theyshow vulnerability by admitting their mistakes and exhibit a growth mindset bydiscussing their learnings. Discussing mistakes openly increases trust andpsychological safety among team members, as well as creating a healthyenvironment where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities. Whenleaders encourage their subordinates to focus on the process of development,as opposed to failures, it can help to increase employee engagement and helpemployees be more adaptive in a dynamic workplace. In this way, when leadersare transparent regarding their mistakes, it can actually support productivity.5. Courageous leaders invest in psychological safetyWhen leaders prioritise psychological safety, it can lead to numerous desirableorganisational outcomes such as improved problem-solving, teameffectiveness, well-being, and creativity. Fostering psychological safety is alsocritical for employees to trust leaders to overcome challenging times. Duringtimes of crisis, a courageous leader rises to the occasion by continuing toencourage employees to be their authentic selves at work and express theircandid thoughts and feelings. Courageous leaders help to build employeeresilience by making them feel included, safe to contribute and safe tochallenge the status quo, without fear of backlash. Key takeaway: To be a truly courageous leader, one must dare to leave theircomfort zones – but perhaps not in the way they might suspect. They must becon dent enough in their knowledge and abilities to acknowledge when they donot have the answer, or when they have made an error, and be open to beingchallenged.15/06/2023, 14:30 Courageous leaders listen, not roar | LSE Business Reviewhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2023/05/31/leaders-with-courage-listen-rather-than-roar/ 5/7♣♣♣Notes:• This blog post represents the views of its author(s), not the position of LSEBusiness Review or the London School of Economics.• Featured image by Franco Antonio Giovanella on Unsplash• When you leave a comment, you’re agreeing to our Comment Policy.About the authorPosted In: Career and Success | Diversity and Inclusion | Leadership | LSEAuthors1 CommentsYolanda is a research o cer in behavioural science at LSE's The InclusionInitiative. She holds an MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology fromLSE. She co-developed and is the head tutor for the Inclusive LeadershipThrough Behavioural Science LSE Online Certi cate Course.Yolanda BlavoGrace Lordan is an associate professor in the Department of Psychologicaland Behavioural Sciences at LSE. She is the founder and director ofLSE's The Inclusion Initiative (http://www.lse.ac.uk/tii). She wrote the book"Think Big, Take Small Steps and Build the Future you Want".http://www.gracelordan.com/Grace Lordan

Leaders with courage listen, rather than roar

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Leaders with courage listen, rather than roar

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