Reject The Resume Leader...Embrace Courage

Courage Is Your Path

I spent three decades in a profession that has a leadership ”program” around every corner and each of them are sound.

You want to follow the West Point Model? The chief’s association will give it to you.

You want some east coast, high end research to help you? PERF will punch your ticket.

How about a yellow brick? The finest FBI academics will lead the way.

And I could go on but I’ll stop here.

All of it works but I rarely saw it working and I knew if I stepped out of line, there would be trouble. If you count a few upset chiefs and a rejections from a few conferences that didn’t want to expose their members to the ills within our leadership, I suppose there was some trouble but that’s the kind of trouble I embrace.

As every metric within the profession tanked including the rise in crime and the fall of recruiting, I knew what the problem was and it wasn’t the media or the activists or the politicians as most will say.

It was us.

It was leadership.

Aristotle explains it best when he said that courage is the first virtue that makes all others possible. Whether it’s vision, planning, communication or trust, none of it happens without the leader having the courage to implement it.

If we can’t continue forward without letting the fear of reprisal, rejection, or failure stop us, we are nothing more than resume leaders looking for the next fancy plaque to put on our wall.

We will look good on paper but actual leadership or our profession will never evolve…We will never be great.

What Do Cowards Look Like

The opposite of courage is cowardice. Leadership without courage does what they are told. Cowards follow the status quo and they stay in good graces with their bosses no matter what. They do what is safe and they follow the crowd to avoid being the outsider in an effort to uphold their own reputation at the expenses of their employees and the overall performance of their organization.

Comfort is their drug of choice and that comfort is killing the dreams and purpose of our crime fighters.

Everyone else be damned…Cowardice is about me, myself and I.

Courage Is Extraordinary

A leader could lack the administrative or communicative skills to be effective. They could lack the charisma or the charm but if they lack courage, nothing will ever be right. Without the courage it takes to challenge the status quo or defend that employee that did nothing wrong, no one will ever see them as an actual leader.

Leaders unwilling to put their goals and dreams behind those under them will never have the credibility to be trusted. Employees will do what they are told but they will never be led.

The absolute minimum will be the goal and with time, we will actually brag about this achievement.

Courage is easy to discuss and much harder to demonstrate. As Mike Tyson once said, “everyone is a fighter until they get punched in the face.”

The Elements of Courage

1. Are you willing to stand by your decision when the controversy comes?

2. When everyone around you is wrong morally or ethically, are you willing to stand against it regardless of the negative outcome that will likely come your way?

3. Will you choose discipline and consistency over compromise, distraction, and comfort?

4. Are you willing to give constructive feedback when the entire room will disagree?

5. Will you let others do their job rather than micromanaging their every move because of your internal fear of their failure affecting you?

6. Will you apologize when you are wrong rather than look to blame?

7. Will you address conflict immediately or avoid it?

8. Will you challenge the status quo?

9. Will you always do the right thing despite the danger in doing so?

10. Will you accept that courage isn’t the absence of fear but rather the ability to push through that fear without compromise?

None of these are easy and they go against our very nature. From the day we are born, our inherent nature is to protect self. Some call it the instincts from our days in a cave but I subscribe to the biblical worldview of sin.

If you don’t believe we are born with an inherent selfishness to ourselves, hang out with a two year old. This is who we are but it doesn’t have to be.

Acknowledge Your Weakness

Regardless of what you call it, to be courageous is to acknowledge who we are and what we can do to reverse it. Even the most courageous among us, like the idea of something being about us. We like the idea of being liked or having a great reputation and an even better resume.

The difference with those that are courageous, is they reject all of it.

It’s not about them, it’s about others and the courageous are committed to a daily reminder and practice of what it takes to not only be courageous but remain courageous.

I want that to be you.

It needs to be you.

And if you want to dive deeper and commit to being fully courageous, consider the following:

• Spread this content to those around you

• Plug in to our Podcast wherever you listen to them at “Courageous Leadership with Travis Yates”

• If you haven’t read the book that started this movement, you can get it here. If you can’t afford it, I’ll send it to you.

• We are launching a membership designed to encourage and equip you. If you want information on the launch, plug your email in here and you can download our Principle Poster for your office or agency while you are there.

• Encourage your agency or conference to host our training. It will throw gasoline on the match you have already lit.

• If you need anything, call me. My number is located at the top of the main website and you can reach me through any of the contact pages as well.

And always remember, Lead On & Stay Courageous!

---

Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.