‘Could all teams benefit from Fearless Leadership?’

This fabulous question was asked by a director when I presented to the board about the Fearless Leadership program their exec team was mid-way through.

My response? ‘Yes all teams could benefit… And not all teams are up for it!’

Here are three indicators that your team is ready for Fearless Leadership:

1. You know that this team is capable of more, and you are willing to get uncomfortable to achieve that. This might sound obvious – not everyone is okay with coming to the ‘frontier of their competence’ (a great phrase from Harvard’s Professor Ron Heifetz).
2. You sense there are conversations unsaid that are causing tension, and yet the team doesn’t yet have the appetite and/or skill to surface and resolve them.
3. You are willing to accept that you are part of the problem as well as the solution. Change on some level will be required from everyone, including you.

Conversely, you are not ready for Fearless Leadership if:

1. Everyone else is the problem and THEY need to be fixed! When I get a call from a CEO saying ‘I need you to fix my exec team’ I wonder if the CEO themself is welling to change.
2. You believe the work to resolve the situation can be done by an external consultant. Sorry to say, it can’t be! The team, and especially the senior leader, is not off the hook. While a good facilitation is invaluable, it’s the team that must ‘do the work’.
3. You won’t stay in important conversations when they start to get uncomfortable. Between where are you are now and being a Fearless Team, there will be many Fearless Conversations that will require you and others to show courage and be vulnerable. If you aren’t okay with that, you aren’t ready for Fearless Leadership.

What are the strengths of your team? What’s your level of readiness for Fearless Leadership ? What can you do today to forge a stronger team?

Go Fearlessly