[August 11, 2014] If a person was to look out across time and culture to find the greatest weakness of senior leaders, what would they discover? The intrigue involved in the search would surely be high drama for a television show or a book. What is it that human’s possess that is so precious that its loss was recognized by the ancients and we speak of it today when studying leadership? There are many opinions on the subject, just ask anyone what frightens them the most about their boss, their company president, their elected representative. Ultimately, a senior leader’s greatest weakness is the trait that is required before any other leader characteristic can be found.
The answer is not surprising but it can be predicted with great finality. Once we understand that the basis for leadership – honor, faith, integrity, and passion are predicated on – is having the courage to stand up and be seen. The cowardly lion of the Wizard of Oz movie lacked the basic ingredient to support his fellow travelers. Likewise, the leader who is the smartest, fastest, most intelligent, and most motivated cannot stand against the obstacles to leadership without courage. Yes, moral courage is the greatest weakness of leaders. Each fear that they will lose their courage in an important moment where they are being challenged.
People can almost smell fear. It does not take much to lose one’s courage to do what is right. It is easy when everyone knows the right choice a leader must take. Yet, that is not reality for senior leaders. The path forward is often unclear and full of unexpected turns and twists that seek to divert the leader. A four-star general once told me that his job was to make the hard decisions because anyone can make the easy ones.
Without moral courage, all is lost. Winston Churchill during the early days of World War II stood like a stone wall when panic was all around him. Many thought England would fall to the advancing Nazi armies. He told his countrymen to, “Withhold no sacrifice, begrudge no toil, seek no sordid gain, fear no foe, all will be well.” The most successful leaders in history are those who have displayed the highest moral courage in times of the greatest adversity. Today, like every day that came before us, courage is that fundamental requirement for only the best of leaders and its loss is our greatest weakness.
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