We are being asked for increasingly high levels of leadership performance in rapidly changing environments. The question is whether we will say "yes" to leading these heroic journeys - whether in formal or informal leadership roles. The health of our organizations and our communities depends on our answer and what we bring to the challenge.
If we answer the call we have a trusted model that provides a clear map of what will be encountered as well as a set of strategies for successfully leading a journey of change. This is not surprising as the heroic journey is the story used by cultures throughout time to create or renew a life, an organization or a community.
The heroic journey also naturally calls for our best - it is ennobling by its very nature. This is not "leadership lite." We will be asked to lead:
> With a sense of our own significance - an understanding that our actions as leaders make a difference
> With integrity - matching our leadership strategies to the challenges and matching our actions to our words
> With the willingness to think and act beyond our own immediate welfare
There are four forms of courage upon which to draw in bringing forth our best. They will be required and each is challenging in its own way, but courage will always be there for us if we call on it.
1. The Courage to See and Speak the Truth
2. The Courage to Create and Champion a Vision of the Desired Future
3. The Courage to Act and Persevere - to "Hold the Course"
4. The Courage to Collaborate with and Rely on Others
If we answer the call and bring forth our best, we will grow and become increasingly strong and whole as leaders - each journey adding a different set of competencies and deepening of our character and wisdom.
1. Acknowledge the challenges of the leadership imperative and let people know that we have a story that we can trust to guide us - in every setting.
2. Help people realize that the heroic journey really is their story - that they are not strangers to it. And that it is about the journey, not some grand deeds performed by larger-than-life figures.
3. Identify how leading with a sense of significance, with integrity and with concern beyond self might look as the journey plays out. How will leadership model those traits?
4. Support people in drawing on the four forms of courage. Each can be surprisingly difficult and people do best when they act together - challenging and supporting each other.
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QuickStart packets are designed to guide leadership teams in applying the concepts of that chapter. Each QuickStart has a set of guiding questions as well as worksheets and templates to capture the team’s work. The QuickStart packets work whether you are in the midst of a journey or planning a journey.