Three Traits of a Tough Leader
“Who’s next?” is a question that senior executive and succession planning committees consider with regularity. Amid the debate about who can succeed a VP of marketing or even who will become the next C-suite officer, one factor sometimes gets overlooked: Toughness!
I am not referring to what’s on the outside (gruff and ready), but rather what is inside the individual (character and resilience).
Toughness matters because you need a leader who has the wherewithal to stand up for what she believes in, as well as stand up to others to achieve team and organizational goals. More important, toughness matters when things are not going well, when the economy’s tanking, the market’s shaky, and a brand-new competitor’s appeared on the horizon. Also, toughness matters when heads are being counted and everyone is wondering if the next head to roll may be theirs. Tough times demand tough leadership. In my new book, Lead By Example, 50 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Results, I talk about some of the ways leaders demonstrate toughness:
They defuse tension. Performing under pressure is a prerequisite for leadership, but too much pressure can be a prescription for disaster. It falls to the leader to maintain the sense of urgency and momentum but also to give people some breathing room. This is not an excuse to slack off; it is an invitation to be careful and deliberate. Also, keep in mind that tension that comes from interpersonal conflicts is seldom positive; leaders need to eradicate it by making some hard decisions about who works with whom and why.
They get up off the floor. There’s no shame in getting knocked down; youth sports teaches that lesson very well. What matters is what you do next. Strategies will miss the mark; wrong skills will be applied; and projects will fail. Such is life in the organization. It’s a leader’s job to get back into the game and keep slogging. That requires resilience, an ability to flex with adversity as well as persevere when the going gets rough.
They let off some steam. If you are a team leader, and someone on your team makes a big mistake, one that he was obviously warned about, it’s natural to become annoyed. It is also acceptable to focus some heat on the person who made a mistake. The challenge is to focus your irritation on the action, not the person. He needs to know your displeasure; it may help him pay more attention the next time.
There is another aspect of toughness that sometimes seldom appears in a discussion of the topic. Humility. A leader who can admit he was mistaken is a leader who has the right kind of inner toughness. Owning up to failure is not a weakness; it’s a measure of strength. First, it demonstrates a willingness to accept consequences. Second, it demonstrates humanness; human beings make mistakes. It also creates opportunity to move forward. Rolling over in despair is not what leaders do; they acknowledge their miscues, learn from them and resolve to move forward. Toughness gives backbone to a leader’s purpose, and gives one the strength to continue.