Lead Bold

Bold leadership.

What comes to mind?

A platoon leader leading from the front? A quarterback ignoring the call from the sidelines when he spots a weakness in the defense? A CEO casting a compelling, heart-stirring, mind-bending vision to a packed room?

For me it’s a middle school girl in pursuit of a new iPhone.

More on that in a minute.

Boldness is a nonnegotiable in leadership. But not in the sense many think. In our current political and business climate, the term “bold” is somewhat of a four-letter word. That’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate because leadership requires boldness. Again, it’s a nonnegotiable. Where there’s progress, there’s boldness. Progress requires bold leadership. The two go hand in glove.

If we were to end our discussion there, you may find yourself a bit discouraged. If you’re like most people, you don’t consider yourself bold. If you’re like most people, you don’t even like people who consider themselves bold. Generally speaking, we don’t endeavor to be like people we don’t like.

So, let’s not end the discussion there. Instead, let’s bust a few myths and put a proper wrapper on this indispensable leadership tool. After all, that’s what it is—a tool.

Myth 1: Bold leaders have bold personalities. Total myth. Bold is not a personality type.  Consequently, bold leadership is not reserved for extroverts. Plenty of introverts do bold things. Extroverted leaders may be bold. Or they may simply talk a lot. Bottom line: bold leadership does not require a larger-than-life, charismatic personality.

Myth 2: Bold leaders are fearless. Nope. Truth be known, all the fearless people are dead. Fearless leaders included. Everybody carries their fair share of fear. Everybody is insecure about something. We all fear having our insecurities exposed. So bold leadership is not fearless leadership. Fearless often leads to reckless. Fearless plus reckless is not a recipe for success. It’s not good leadership. Fearless plus reckless is high school.     

Bold leaders are not fearless. They are not individuals who have somehow overcome all their fear and are, therefore, positioned to do something bold.  As we will see, the opposite is true.

Myth 3: Bold leaders have extraordinary gifts or talents. As you’ve probably noted somewhere along the way, supremely talented and gifted people have a tendency to lean heavily on their talents and giftedness. They stay in their lanes. Who could blame ‘em? That’s where they excel. That’s where they succeed. That’s where the money is. As Adam Grant noted in his fascinating book Originals: “Child prodigies rarely become adult geniuses who change the world.” Extraordinarily talented and gifted people are often risk-averse.

Leaders don’t live by the law of the lane. Leaders are often forced to create their own lanes. Progress requires it. While there are certainly gifted and talented leaders in the world, their successes are never attributed exclusively or even primarily to their giftedness. They’re always attributed to their decisions. Bold leadership isn’t passive. It’s more grit than gift—more tenacity than talent.

On a similar note, bold leaders are not necessarily the smartest people in the room. A high IQ isn’t always an asset. It’s usually the smartest people in the room who come up with the most compelling reasons not to deviate from the norm. Not to try a new approach. High IQ folks are inclined to stay in their lanes as well.

Myth 4: Bold leaders are resourced leaders. Sometimes.

Here’s something to consider.  

Successful leaders don’t become well known until after they become successful.

I know. Brilliant.

But don’t rush by this.

Initially, we always know more about what a person is successful for than how they became successful. Notoriety is a reward of success. It’s not success. Successful people are successful long before they are known. Every major league baseball player was successful long before he reached the major leagues. Playing in the major leagues is a reward for years of success—success that for many of those guys began in high school. The same is true for leaders who’ve excelled organizationally. There is no overnight success. But by the time a leader’s name is known, they are generally pretty well resourced. In the public eye, their notoriety and resources appear simultaneously. That’s deceiving. One generally leads to the other. We have to wait for their books to get the back story. The back story is generally filled with tales of adversity, failure, and struggle. The back story is often the story. But it’s the story we have to go looking for.

Rare is the success story that begins, “Once upon a time there was a man sitting on a pile of cash looking for something to do when suddenly an idea for a new business popped into his head.” It’s almost always the other way around. Ideas generally precede funding. Opportunities do as well. Bold leadership is required to find and secure resources. Funding generally follows vision. Not the other way around.   

So, if bold leadership doesn’t require a bold personality, above-average talent, public speaking skills, or a pile of cash, what does it require?  

Bold is a comparative term. Like bold text, bold leaders stand out. They differentiate themselves from the pack. But not in personality, giftedness, or financial backing. What makes a bold leader bold is their willingness to act. To initiate. To execute. Bold leadership is clarity around and unreasonable commitment to what a leader is convinced should be done. Begun. Ended. Changed. In this clarity and commitment is where the leader finds the courage to act. They have to act. To do anything less feels wrong.

Which takes us back to the middle school girl in pursuit of an iPhone.

If you have a middle school daughter, you don’t even need to read the next two sentences. You understand. She exhibits all the characteristics of a bold leader:

• She is clear. I should have an iPhone.
• She is focused. Everything else can wait, including homework.
• She is stubborn. I will not take no for an answer.
• She is resourceful. If Mom won’t buy it for me, I’ll go to Dad. If Dad is a no-go, it’s on to grandparents.

Clear. Focused. Stubborn. Resourceful. That’s a bold leader in a nutshell.  

 

Larry Martinek is a good example of a bold leader.

Never heard of him?

That’s the point.  

Larry Martinek

Larry is a good example of a bold leader because his chief ambition in life wasn’t to get his name out there. Larry’s chief ambition in life was to teach kids to love math.

Not do math.

Love math.

Larry began teaching in the Los Angeles area in 1974. It bugged him that most students came to his classroom with a bad attitude toward mathematics. The prevailing attitude in academic circles was (and is) that most kids hate math, just teach ‘em what you can and move ‘em on through the system. Most parents and students saw math as a necessary evil.  But Larry wasn’t having it and decided to do something about it. He began by writing his own curriculum supplements, which he later published. In 1985, he created a book for parents designed to help them help their kids gain an appreciation for math. Larry admits his initial inspiration was his own son, Nic, who didn’t share his father’s love for numbers.

Larry was convinced math didn’t have to be boring and that a love for math should not be limited to those for whom it came naturally. In addition to his curriculum supplements, Larry created his own approach to teaching, which led him to leave the public school system and found Mathnasium in 2002. As of this writing, Mathnasium has over 500 centers in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Honestly, can you think of anything more unrealistic and perilous than to launch a company with the mission of teaching kids to love math? Who would risk their personal assets and walk away from an established career to pursue such a crazy idea?

Larry.

But not because of a charismatic personality. Not because of the adrenalin rush associated with risk. He wasn’t sitting on a mountain of money looking for an idea. Larry acted because he had clarity around and unreasonable commitment to the idea that kids could and should love math. Larry was successful before he launched Mathnasium. He experienced success teaching his own son, as well as the students in his classrooms. So he knew it could be done. But knowing it could be wasn’t what qualified Larry as bold. He was convinced it should be done on a grand scale. So he acted.

 

Progress

Leaders love progress and progress requires dogged determination—a refusal to back down in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Progress often requires a leader to opt for the unconventional and unthinkable. As was the case with Larry Martinek, for bold leaders there’s no map. There’s no fast track. Often, there’s no track at all. Bold leaders begin with a compass. Not a physical compass, an internal compass where true north is the intersection of conscience, conviction, instinct, and skill.   

Bold leaders are not fearless.

They are possessed.  

They are possessed by a conviction that something needs to be done. Launched. Ended. Changed. It’s this conviction that drives them past their fears. It’s their deep abiding conviction that leaves the people around them with the impression they are, in fact, fearless. But that is not the case. Fearlessness is not a prerequisite for bold leadership. Conviction is.

So what’s your new iPhone?

What needs to be?

What needs to end?

What do you feel compelled to start?

What’s holding you back?

Perhaps it’s time to act. To be bold. The world is waiting on you.