It’s that time of year again: Leadership teams everywhere are planning ahead, and as they do, there are shouts and pleas: We need to be bold! The appeal resonates. Hearts long to live on a grand scale. We are wired to see ourselves scaling mountains, crossing deserts and accomplishing other glorious feats.
The proclamation, however, is made as if acting with courage and being audacious is as simple as using the ‘control+B’ function on a keyboard. This is a sign that those in leadership may be watching too many Hollywood hero-action movies. (I know this, as I, too, am culpable.)
Being bold, modeling a grander illustration of who we truly are, is not to be relegated to platitudes and posters. Talk of being bold in our actions requires someone on the team to first demonstrate the courage of insisting this question is answered: What specifically will we do to develop our culture so people can be bold?
The team will use the ‘control + B’ function in 2017 only when we equip them to do so.
