Courageous Leadership – Moving from Armored to Daring Leadership

Why Courage Matters in Leadership

Courage isn’t about being fearless. Courage & Fear go hand-in-hand! Courage is about acting with integrity in spite of fear. And in leadership, courage shows up in three powerful ways:

• Owning mistakes openly – “I was wrong” builds more trust than pretending you’ve got it all figured out. It definitely builds more trust than blaming an employee when everyone on the team knows where the true fault lies.

• Having hard conversations – Feedback, accountability, and direction are gifts, not punishments. This means accepting feedback as a leader as well. When your team tells you they need change, the best thing you can do is believe them and facilitate the change - especially if the change is in your behavior.

• Choosing people over optics – Prioritizing the health and growth of your team, even when it’s messy, earns long-term loyalty. A leader needs to be a buffer between their team and the corporate politics / frustrations. If you can't / won't stand up for your team, why on earth would you ever think they would stand up for you?

When leaders dare to lead with courage, they create teams that are more resilient, more creative, more cohesive, and far more engaged.

The Pitfalls of Armored Leadership

It’s tempting to believe that being “tough” makes you look competent. Unfortunately, teams see through you. They see where you're flailing. Tough isn't the same as being firm. And it has consequences.

Armored "tough guy" leadership actually creates:

• Distrust: Employees stop bringing problems to you, fearing blame, backlash, or dismissal (as in dismissing your concerns).

• Stagnation: Teams do only what they’re told, missing innovation opportunities and in the worst cases, missing actual problems that are lurking while they're still manageable.

• Turnover: People leave not because of the work, but because of the leader.

If you’ve been experiencing any of these, it might be time to ask: Am I leading with armor or courage? Actually, ask yourself the question anyway - and evaluate your team behavior to help you answer the question.

How do Distrust, Stagnation, and Turnover (pre-turnover) show up in the workplace?

• Distrust: Team members don't ping you randomly to ask questions or raise concerns or spitball ideas. They wait for scheduled meetings and speak the bare minimum. They agree with everything you say - often quietly and with shrugs and responses like, "sure, if that's how you want us to work it, that's what we'll do". They aren't asking clarifying questions.

• Stagnation: Teams aren't asking how you want backlog handled, they're just letting things sit until you dictate the next move. They're no longer staying on top of new release information and sharing it with the team, they're waiting for you to bring the problems to them and asking them to change focus.

• Turnover: People are getting quieter. They're clocking in and out at precisely their prescribed times instead of staying 7 minutes extra to wrap something up. They're logging out for their lunch hour when they used to be available for casual conversation. They're not showing up to meetings where they are optional. Ever. You make the bold move of asking them about leaving right at check-out-o'clock and they cite their contract.

If any of this sounds familiar, the good news is - you can turn this around.

How to Practice Daring Leadership This Week

Here are three shifts you can start right away:

• Shift from Perfection → Progress Instead of demanding flawless results, focus on learning, iteration, and celebrating milestones. I like to celebrate everything - tough ticket? Heck yes! Way to get it figured out! But, hey, start small...it's gonna seem real weird if you do a full pendulum swing.

• Shift from Silence → Conversation Invite feedback from your team, even if it’s uncomfortable. Courageous leaders listen before they respond. If you haven't welcomed feedback in the past, maybe start soft with, "I know I've come across as x in the past" or "I know I did x and it wasn't well received" and follow it up with, "but, I'm looking to change that and this is one way I know I can improve. Are there other things I should consider?". When this starts feeling good, you could add explanations of why you did x.

• Shift from Power Over → Power With Instead of making every decision alone, collaborate. Empower others with ownership and see how quickly momentum grows. This one might be the easiest. You've presumably hired people that are qualified to do their jobs. Use it. - "Hey, I've become aware of this problem. I was kind of thinking we could x, y, z. Do any of you have a better way to approach this? Or know of any reason that x, y, z might not work the way I'm thinking? I'd like for us to have a solid approach.".

Bringing Courage to Your Team

Here’s a reflection exercise for you and your leadership team:

• Where are we putting on “armor” instead of being real?

• How can we replace fear with trust in our next team interaction?

• What’s one decision we can make with our employees instead of for them?

It’s these small choices, made daily, that transform leadership culture from armored to daring.

Final Thought

The teams that thrive aren’t the ones with leaders who are flawless. They’re the ones with leaders who are brave enough to show up, own their humanity, and invite others to lead alongside them.

If you’re ready to bring more courage into your leadership approach — and strengthen your team culture in the process — I’d love to help.

Message support@wolfdiversified.com with "Dare to Lead" and I'll personally respond.