Leadership is inherently risky. Acting as a leader means having the courage to challenge the status quo, promote new ideas, speak up in meetings, etc. The word "leadership" may be referenced in a job description, but often that does not enable or authorize the person in that role to act like a leader.
Put it this way: being in a position of authority tends to equate to fitting the job description parameters. Leadership, on the other hand, requires you to sometimes act outside of the job description parameters. That is why leadership ends up being a risky behavior - you end up being put in positions where you may be disappointing your employees, bosses, boards, shareholders, etc.
All that being said, you can reduce the risk of leadership for yourself and for others by instilling those behaviors in the culture of the organization. This is by no means easy or quick to accomplish. Reducing risk requires taking on risk upfront on your own. But when you start empowering others to take action, you see that the power in numbers builds a tolerance for acting like a leader across the entire organization - from the front lines to the very top, and everywhere in between.
Here are 3 ways you can begin to create a culture of leadership within your organization:
Protect dissenting voices. People tend to not like nay-sayers. People who always complain and say no to new ideas or actions can be very frustrating to deal with at the decision table of an organization. However, those voices may very well be important in the decision-making process. Why? They offer a new perspective, which many people tend to not want to hear when they are bought into a certain idea or action. But those perspectives are important if you wish to truly solve tough challenges; the more perspectives you have, the better equipped you will be to move forward! Protecting those voices of dissent also provides the dissenter with something they may not have had before - a space where they can be heard. Too often the dissenting voice gets dismissed or even chastised (publicly, or at the water cooler behind their back) for voicing their concern. If that person with the perennial dissent was offered protection from a leader in the room, they may be more willing to elaborate on why the dissent is in the best interest of their team/department/co-workers/entire organization. The protection of dissenting voices is a vital step to encourage others in the organization to speak up as well, offering a safe place to voice concerns. If you want to improve employee engagement and communication, this is a vital first step.
2. Encourage independent judgment. It is quite easy for employees (of all levels) to fall in line with what those in authority say. The boss must have the best judgment, right?
Not always. Sometimes those in authority are wrong. They are human after all! So rather than foster a culture of yes-people, encourage employees to think for themselves and speak up when something needs to be addressed.
By encouraging independent judgment, you also foster a culture of giving the work back to people. Rather than relying on those in authority to answer the tough questions, you are encouraging employees to develop their own critical thinking and decision-making skills. The more developed employees are, the more likely they are to confidently take action on tough challenges - lessening the load for you as well.
3. Develop a culture of continuous learning. You should strive for Continuous learning should be part of the culture in your organization. This goes beyond just paying for continuing education for your people (which is still part of the process). Additional facets of a continuous learning culture include:
Allow time to process and reflect on big-picture questions. In other words, encourage your people to ask open-ended questions about the challenges and processes in place. Examples of this might be "What will it take to get to our mission of a younger workforce in management positions?", "How is the competition in our industry changing in the AI boom?", or "What can we learn from this situation?
Honor those who take risks. Celebrate employees who take smart risks when they are successful. Just as important, offer guidance for those who were not successful; use the previous facet of reflection to allow the employee(s) to figure out what could be done differently next time. A lesson in an unsuccessful experiment should be encouraged, not chastised. Remember - you are looking to decrease risk for your employees, not stay with the status quo. Protect those who take smart risks, regardless if they succeed or fail and learn from the process what to do better next time.
Making leadership less risky for others usually means putting yourself on the line first. But that hard work and risk can be rewarded greatly with a greater organizational tolerance for risk for both your employees and yourself.
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