Taking a Stand
By STEVE COATS |
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Whether you agree with his politics or not, you
must give President Bush credit for one thing that is a hallmark
of leaders. He has demonstrated, most recently with Iraq, a willingness
to put a stake in the ground on where he stands on certain issues,
and to take action consistent with his beliefs. And as much as we
look for this kind of conviction from those in other leadership
positions, too few are courageous enough to show it.
Staying in the political arena for a moment, one
recent example about unwillingness to take stands comes to mind.
In the state of Ohio, candidates running for state and national
legislative posts have been much less forthcoming on where they
stand on key issues. According to Project Vote Smart, 44% of those
running for the Ohio legislature in 2000 were willing to articulate
their positions on key issues. In 2002, that number was down to
23%. For those running for national seats, the same trend occurred.
In 2000, 65% were willing to put forth those positions, while two
years later, the number dropped nearly 20 points to 46%.
Why do you think candidates are becoming less
willing to state their positions? One answer might be, fewer candidates
today are clear on where they stand. Think about the implications
of that for a moment! Another might be they do not want to be too
closely associated with one side or another, as that may cause them
to lose potential voters (the "stay in the middle and try to
appeal to everyone" strategy).
However, the main reason cited for so few candidates
wanting to clearly articulate where they stand on key issues: they
did not want their opponents to know. They feared their opponents
might use this knowledge in campaigning against them. So much for
the needs of the voters, who if I am not mistaken, is the primary
group these candidates claim they are seeking to serve.
This situation is one of the paradoxes of leadership.
We expect leaders to take stands and when they do, they make it
easier for their opponents to take shots at them. We have been able
to observe this closely with President Bush's relentless efforts
to win congressional support for Iraq.
On a side note, it is amazing the number of and
different kinds of opponents who might surface when you make your
position clear. For Bush, it was predictable and expected that there
would be strong differences of opinion from the opposing party and
other world governments, who are either allied with Iraq or perhaps
unfriendly toward the US. Yet for some reason, an unusual number
of the rich and famous from Hollywood publicly weighed in with their
dissent on this particular matter. Who could have guessed these
entertainers possessed so much foreign policy and national security
expertise!
No one is surprised when political candidates
or office holders cloak their positions or bounce from side to side
on a key issue. After all, "they are politicians." But
is that what we expect from people in leadership roles in business,
or school systems, churches or any other organization?
For the past several months, evidence would indicate
that for some very senior business people, the only thing they really
stood for was personal wealth. Yet, I would be willing to bet that
most, if not all of these fallen executives had on several occasions
during their tenures, appeared to have taken strong stands about
the need to conduct their businesses with absolute honesty and integrity.
From what I have read, it was clearly a fundamental principle at
Arthur Andersen, and I would assume the same is true at the companies
where the other culprits were on watch. Sadly, their so-called stakes
in the ground were nothing more than hot air. And the consequences
have been shocking.
But the mixed messages surrounding a person's
beliefs or convictions do not just occur at the senior level. Would-be
leaders at all levels seem very quick to take a stand on a value
or issue, only to cave in when staying the course becomes either
too difficult or inconvenient. Have you ever worked around someone
who spoke like a prophet about quality, only to start hammering
you about low volume when sales projections were not being met?
Or how about the person who expresses an unswerving devotion to
teamwork and collaboration, only to unflinchingly deceive his or
her own peers in order to look better or end up at the top. There
is probably no need to comment on how often the concrete values
about customer service or employee development have met the wrecking
ball when times started getting tough.
Perhaps you have heard the expression, "the
person who stands for nothing will fall for anything." In order
to genuinely lead, you must stand for something. You must be willing
to commit yourself to certain beliefs, values and actions. Then
you must be willing to make them public. This is risky for many,
because when you make your positions visible, others will hold you
much more accountable for them. Finally, you must then stay true
to the stands you have taken. People will be watching you with a
crooked eye to make sure that the actions you take are in line with
the lofty or passionate words you have spoken.
So beware. There will always be hardships that
you must endure when standing by your convictions. If you are unprepared
or unwilling to struggle for them, do not try to convince anyone
that you are truly committed. You will only lose credibility, and
no one will choose to willingly follow you.
Copyright 2002 International Leadership
Associates
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