SQUARE-1 ENGINEERING - ENGINEERS BEYOND EXPECTATION

White Papers & Articles

The A-ha Moment That Forever Changed My View of Leadership

5/20/2016

 
Last week I had the chance to reconnect with a former colleague and friend to get caught up on life over a brilliant sushi buffet.  Heading into the meal, little did I know that our soon to be conversation would forever change my perspective on leadership.  For the purposes of this article we’ll refer to my friend as King Salad. (weird to say this but he’s got impeccably styled hair [aka salad], and if you’ve seen a picture of me you’ll know why I’m saying this as I’m a bit lacking in this department)
Eventually conversation with King Salad drifted into the inevitable “how’s work coming along this year so far”.  King Salad’s first comment both surprised me and caught my attention as he said, “I’m focusing my energy in 2016 on ‘Managerial Courage’.  Not to say that I wasn’t interested in the conversation prior, certainly not the case, but without knowing it he had just triggered something in me which made me ultra-alert and increasingly interested to learn more about his perspective of Managerial Courage.
As I sat on the edge of the booth listening to King Salad share with me why he was focusing on Managerial Courage a thought jolted my brain which hit me like a lightning bolt.  King Salad never saw any of this but he was probably wondering why I was so enthusiastically engaged in the conversation, no longer even eating.
What was the lightning bolt that stopped me from eating my precious sushi?  I realized something that I had never thought of before:
Managerial Courage is the linchpin, the cornerstone, the apex for all things related to leading successfully. 
It was so clear in that moment!  In the absence of Managerial Courage all other leadership qualities and characteristics suffer as without Managerial Courage we can only hope to be mediocre at best when it relates to leading and influencing others.
What is Managerial Courage anyways?  Simply put – it’s doing the right things as a leader, especially during tough times.  Seems simple, yet it’s devilishly difficult to act on consistently.  A deeper look into Managerial Courage and we find that it can be further described as a set of actions and beliefs a leader possesses which define who they are and how they go about leading and inspiring others.  These actions and beliefs include:
  1. Courage to lead by your ‘True North’, your authentic self
  2. Courage to face the truth and to openly express it
  3. Courage to act as a servant to your employees
  4. Courage to rely on others, while stepping aside to allow those around you a chance to lead
  5. Courage to listen and not always be heard
  6. Courage to make the right decisions in risky or uncertain situations
  7. Courage to give praise for a job well done while taking blame when the house of cards collapses
  8. Courage to work outside our comfort zone
  9. Courage to impose rigorous standards and hold people accountable
There’s no other word I can think of other than Courage to appropriately define good leadership.  Primarily because it is so easy to not do the things listed above, especially when times are tough, yet to do them consistently it takes great courage and discipline.
The more I thought about it the more I realized that all this time I’ve missed the bigger picture as it relates to successfully leading others.  I even laughed at myself because the notion of Managerial Courage has been in front of me for years yet I had failed to connect the dots leading to my current awareness on the matter.  I always knew to lead successfully you had to care about those you supported as well as come to grips with the fact that the decisions you make won’t always be the right ones.  I knew leading was an art, not something to be achieved at a moment in time, but something to work towards continuously throughout an entire career as a student of the game.
What I didn’t realize until this past week was that the genesis of leadership, the very foundation that exceptional leadership stands on, comes from Managerial Courage.  It takes great tenacity, strength, fortitude, mental determination and care to be a leader and do so successfully.  You can’t fake leadership, you can’t say one thing then act another.  People see right through that. 
Sure, anyone can be a leader, but those who do it successfully stand head and shoulders above their counterparts.  It’s worth mentioning that few people fall into the category of great leaders which is why the concept of Managerial Courage is so important.
Courage is the very essence of what leadership is all about.
I am beholden to my friend King Salad for the awareness he brought to me over our sushi meal, it was an invaluable learning opportunity one which I’m thrilled to share and pass on.
What does Managerial Courage mean to you?
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    About the Author

    Travis Smith is the founder and managing director of Square-1 Engineering, a life sciences consulting firm, providing end to end technical project services to companies which design, develop and or manufacture products in Southern California.  He successfully served the life sciences marketplace in SoCal for over 15 years specializing in engineering services, consulting, project outsourcing and leadership development. In 2019 he was recognized as a ‘40 Under 40’ honoree by the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce as a top leader in Orange County, CA.

    Travis also serves as Chairman, Board of Directors for DeviceAlliance, the only Southern California based medical device non-profit professionals organization and member of the University of California Irvine's Division of Continuing Education Advisory Board for Medical Product Development.  He holds a business management degree from California State University Long Beach and is a graduate of the Southern California Entrepreneur Academy.

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016

    Categories

    All
    1099
    2020
    90/10 Principle
    Accountability
    Adapt
    Adp
    Advanced Degree
    Adversity
    Advice
    Aerospace
    Affirmations
    Aggressor
    Agreement
    Ah Ha Moment
    Ah-ha Moment
    Alignment
    American Dream
    Anduril
    Answer
    Application
    Approval
    Article
    Asana
    ASQ
    Assuming
    Assumption
    Authority
    Automatic Data Processing
    Awareness
    Balance
    Bias
    Big Picture
    Bill George
    Blame
    Bottleneck
    Branding
    Budget
    Build It They Will Come
    Business Case
    Business Continuity
    Business Development
    Business Etiquette
    Business Owner
    Buyer
    Buyers Remorse
    Cad
    Career
    Career Advancement
    Career Advice
    Career Change
    Career Decision
    Career Management
    Career Navigation
    Career Transition
    Case Of The Mondays
    Case Study
    Cell Phone
    Certification
    Challenge
    Change
    Character
    Chemistry
    Choice
    Client
    Coaching
    COGS
    Communication
    Competency
    Component
    Concept
    Concept Design
    Concept Development
    Conflict Resolution
    Consultant
    Consultant Services
    Consulting
    Consumer Experience
    Contract
    Contractor
    Conversation
    Coronavirus
    Cost
    Cost Of Goods Sold
    Courage
    COVID19
    COVID-19
    Cross Functional
    Customer Service
    Dad
    Dating
    Deadlines
    Decision Making
    Decision Making Process
    Defensive
    Delegate
    Delegation
    Deliverable
    Design
    Design For Manufacturability
    Determination
    Devicealliance
    Dfm
    Discipline
    Distraction
    Doe Donuts
    Donuts
    Dr. Travis Bradberry
    Ecosystem
    Education
    Effective Leadership
    Effectiveness
    Efficiency
    Ego
    Electrical
    Elegant Warrior
    Emergency
    Emergency Action Plan
    Emergency Planning
    Emergency Response Plan
    Emotion
    Emotional
    Emotional Intelligence
    Empathy
    Employee
    Employee Appreciation
    Employee Burnout
    Employment
    Engagement
    Engineer
    Engineering
    Entrepreneur
    Entrepreneurship
    Entreprenuership
    Executive Coaching
    Expectations
    Failure
    Fathers Day
    Fathers' Day
    Fatique
    Fda
    Fear
    Fedex
    First Impression
    Five Stages Of Grief
    Fixed Cost
    Flexibility
    Follow
    Freedom
    Freelance
    Gantt Chart
    Gap Analysis
    Generation
    Gig
    Gig Economy
    Goals
    Go Giver
    Good Enough
    Growth Mindset
    Guidance
    Hardwork
    Hard Work
    Hazard
    Help
    Hire
    Hire Employee
    Hiring
    Human Resources
    Humility
    Improve
    Independent Consultant
    Independent Contractor
    Influence
    Initiative
    Innovation
    Interview
    Interviewing
    Interview Process
    I Said Yes I Meant No
    Isolation
    Jira
    Job
    Job Description
    Job Interview
    Job Offer
    Jocko Willink
    John Mccain
    Jump Ship
    Kickstarter
    Lead
    Leader
    Leadership
    Leif Babin
    Lesson
    Lessons Learned
    Let Go
    Life
    Lifescience
    Life Science
    Lifestyle
    Listen
    Listening
    Loyalty
    Management
    Management Considerations
    Managerial Courage
    Managing Expectations
    Manufacturing
    Marshall Goldsmith
    Mashup
    Math
    Max Capacity
    Mechanical
    Medical Device
    Medical Device Career Navigation
    Medtech
    Mentality
    Mentor
    Micro Manager
    Microsoft Project
    Millennial
    Mindfulness
    Mindset
    Minimum Expectations
    Misconceptions
    Mission Critical
    Mistake
    Mistakes
    Model
    Mondayquickie
    Monday Quickie
    Mondayquiickie
    Moonlight
    Moonlighting
    Morning Routine
    Motivation
    Navigation
    Nearsourcing
    Negativity
    Negotiate
    Negotiation
    Network
    Networking
    New Business
    New Career
    New Grad
    New Job
    News
    Offline
    Onboarding Program
    Operations
    Opportunity
    Organization
    Out Of Scope
    Outside The Box
    Outsource
    Outsourcing
    Overcome
    Overload
    Overwork
    Overworked
    Ownership
    Panasonic Avionics
    Pandemic
    Pareto
    Patience
    Pause
    Pdlc
    Perception
    Performance Management
    Perseverance
    Perspective
    Peter Drucker
    Pew Research
    Planning
    Pokemon Go
    Positivity
    Praise
    Pricing
    Principle
    Priorities
    Priority
    Proactive
    Problem Solve
    Process
    Process Improvement
    Product Development
    Product Development Life Cycle
    Professional Development
    Professional Engineer
    Professional Experience
    Professional Growth
    Profit Margin
    Project
    Project Charter
    Project Management
    Project Qualification
    Project Requirements
    Projects
    Project Scope
    Promotion
    Prototype
    Quality
    Quarantine
    Quit Job
    Reading
    Reality
    Recap
    Recommendation
    Recruiting
    Regulatory
    Reinvent
    Relationships
    Reliability
    Remediation
    Reputation
    Research
    Resignation
    Resigning
    Resource
    Resource Management
    Resource Planning
    Respect
    Responsibility
    Risk
    ROI
    Rookie
    Sales
    Sam Walton
    Say No
    Schedule
    Science
    Scope
    Self Awareness
    Seller
    Service
    Service Firm
    Service Provider
    Services
    Setting Expectations
    Side Hustle
    Silicon Beach
    Silicon Valley
    Slump
    Small Business
    Small Business Coaching
    Small Businses
    Smartphone
    Sme
    Smithsonian Science Education Center
    Socal
    Social Media
    Solidworks
    Solopreneur
    Sop
    Southern California
    SOW
    SpaceX
    Spin Selling
    Square1
    Square1engineering
    Stakeholder
    Standard
    Startup
    Start Up
    Statement Of Work
    Stem
    Stem Education
    Stephen Covey
    STEP Leadership
    Story
    Strategy
    Strengths
    Stress
    Subcontractor
    Subject Matter Expert
    Success
    Supplier
    Supplier Acquisition
    Supplier Management
    Supplier Selection
    Supplier Selection Process
    Supply Chain
    Support
    Tactic
    Talent Acquisition
    Tech Corridor
    Technique
    Technology
    Tedious
    Telecommute
    Temporary Worker
    Testimonial
    The Dichotomy Of Leadership
    Theory
    Time And Materials
    Time Management
    Tough Customers
    Training
    True North
    Uci Dce
    Unemployment
    Unhappy At Work
    University Of California Irvine
    University Of California Irvine Division Of Continuing Education
    Ups
    Vendor
    Vendor Selection
    Video
    Visionary
    War For Talent
    White Paper
    Windchill
    Work
    Work From Home
    Work Life Balance
    Work Packaging
    Workstation
    World Class
    World Class Customer Service

    RSS Feed

Visit Square-1's
White Paper & Article
​Publications

Picture

Site
​Navigation

Home

Services

Case Studies

White Papers/ Articles
​
​Contact Us

Contact
​Us

1-844-300-SQR1
Web Content Copyright  ©   2020
Picture
  • Home
  • Services
    • Consulting Services
    • CAD Services
    • In-Source Project Services
  • Successful Execution
    • How We Engage
    • Problems We Solve
    • Project Expertise
    • Case Studies
  • Resource Library
    • White Papers and Articles
    • Recommended Business Reading
  • About Us
    • Vision & Misson
    • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Services
    • Consulting Services
    • CAD Services
    • In-Source Project Services
  • Successful Execution
    • How We Engage
    • Problems We Solve
    • Project Expertise
    • Case Studies
  • Resource Library
    • White Papers and Articles
    • Recommended Business Reading
  • About Us
    • Vision & Misson
    • Contact Us