Strength and intelligence are intrinsic to leadership
Colonel Halfhill, the director of innovation, analysis, and leadership development for Air Force Global Strike Command, shared a valuable lesson she learned from Dr. Brené Brown. She emphasized the importance of carefully choosing language depending on the situation. Complicated matters demand a unique approach. After discussing it with her staff, she realized that a problem presenting itself as tiredness was actually loneliness.
The emerging problems in today’s world go beyond technological advances, enabling artificial intelligence to take over jobs. The challenge now includes the inability to embrace the gifts of the heart, such as vulnerability, empathy, and emotional literacy.
⚡️As a leader, asking pertinent questions to determine the real challenge takes courage.
One style of leadership that is particularly troubling is armored leadership. It drives perfectionism and fosters fear of failure. Perfectionism, in this sense, refers to a self-destructive and addictive belief system. It is an unattainable goal that only makes us feel shame, judgment, and blame.
On the other hand, daring leadership models encourage healthy striving, empathy, and self-compassion. As a leader, engage your team in conversations about ways perfectionism differs from healthy aspirations for excellence.
Armored leadership believes in scarcity and disregards delight and recognition. Joy and vulnerability are closely connected, and we are used to being wary of the latter. Even when we experience positive emotions, we frequently think about what may come next, not allowing ourselves to feel fully satisfied. Sometimes, we caution ourselves when we feel joy, waiting for the next disaster; we think expressing so much cheerfulness can trigger something terrible. So, we turn the positive feelings to foreboding, hesitate before celebrating victories, and withhold earned recognition. Yet, it shouldn’t be this way.
Gratitude helps you embrace the pleasures of accomplishment, love, and joy. Globoforce, an organization that provides recognition programs and solutions, found that recognition boosts employee engagement and satisfaction. We may have more work ahead of us and experience some failures; still, this shouldn’t take away the joy of the moment. Once we achieve something, we should always take a minute to celebrate it.