Bold Leadership vs. Fear-Based Leadership: Austin’s model for analysing leadership attitudes

Effective leadership plays a critical role in shaping the success of any society or organisation. The quality of leaders often sets companies and nations apart. When leaders are visionary and bold, they can motivate teams to perform at their best. I share the sentiments of John Maxwell, a respected American author, who famously declared that “everything rises and falls on leadership.”

Visionary and Collaborative Leadership

Visionary and collaborative leadership is essential for addressing the major global challenges of today. Visionary leaders have the ability to see further and more clearly than others, often anticipating what lies ahead. However, solving complex societal challenges requires collaboration and shared responsibility across all sectors. Collaborative efforts are often more effective than individual ones, as they enable a greater diversity of ideas to flourish and prevent any one individual or entity from shouldering the burden alone.

In today’s complex and connected world, leaders need a diverse skill set to be successful. The emergence of new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models like ChatGPT, introduces new challenges that require leaders to constantly learn, unlearn, and relearn to adapt themselves and their organisations. By embracing innovation and creativity, leaders can move beyond current realities and unlock new possibilities, iteratively creating new and improved realities.

In collaboration with AACSB International, the global accreditation body representing over 950 accredited business schools, we conducted an inquiry into the leadership competencies necessary for driving societal change and sustainability, taking into account not just profits, but also people and the planet. It is crucial that we consider what types of growth we need and what we can no longer afford.

Our investigation yielded three essential competencies:

Depolarization – the ability to reject binary thinking, embrace complexity, and explore alternative perspectives. It requires self-awareness, an open mind, and a non-judgmental space for meaningful dialogue.

Paradox – the willingness to embrace uncertainty and acknowledge the interdependence of opposing forces. It involves operating with a curious and inquisitive mindset, recognizing our own limitations, and being honest with ourselves and others.

Compassion – the capacity to empathise and understand different cultural backgrounds, personal experiences, and other nuances – necessitates maintaining a broad perspective, avoiding confirmation bias, and striving to understand as well as to be understood. These competencies are crucial for future leaders and should be integrated into business school curricula to be taught to students.

Effective Communication

A key ingredient of leadership is effective communication. Communication is always a two-way track, with the key part being generative listening, where one listens with the anticipation of learning something new, devoid of all ego. In order to fully listen, we have to quiet the voices of judgement, cynicism, and fear, all of which can thwart any chance of getting to the root of the matter. When we open our hearts and engage in empathic listening, we can truly step out of ourselves and know that truth is more conditional and experiential than our lone ego can fathom. Sometimes leaders tend to be so arrogant and self-conceited that they are totally confident in a totally incorrect view. Our need to be right can trounce our need to find out what is true. Truth is the essential foundation for producing good outcomes.

Austin’s Model for Analysing Leadership Attitudes

Drawing on my extensive experience as a leadership consultant and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Columbia Business School, I have identified a critical factor that distinguishes leaders: their attitude towards delivery and accountability. This attitude is profoundly influenced by whether they lead from a place of courage or fear.

To help clarify this relationship, I have developed Austin’s model for analysing leadership attitudes. This model depicts the contrasting attitudes towards delivery and accountability of bold, courageous leadership versus fear-based leadership. See the schematic below for a visual representation of this model.

Leadership attitude towards delivery:

a)Fear-based leaders have a tendency to make excuses for failure, seeking reasons outside of themselves when things go wrong. They often hold onto commendations for success but avoid taking accountability for failures. Their language is often punctuated by the phrase “because of,” which can discourage learning and promote a culture of excuses, resulting in subpar performance.

b)Conversely, courageous leaders prioritise action and performance when it comes to delivery. Instead of seeking excuses, they go above and beyond to achieve their goals. Their language is often punctuated by “in spite of,” and they serve as examples to their teams by delivering exceptional performance.

Leadership attitude towards accountability:

a)Fear-based leaders tend to avoid accountability by blaming others for failure. They do not take responsibility for their own actions and instead look for external factors to blame. They may even scapegoat a team member to avoid taking the blame themselves, which creates a culture of passing the buck and prevents the team from learning and improving.

b)In contrast, courageous leaders take full responsibility for their actions, even if they delegate tasks to team members. They recognize that accountability cannot be delegated and take an internal approach to fault-finding. By modelling this attitude, they encourage their team to take ownership of their work and learn from mistakes, leading to continuous improvement in performance.

Bold and compassionate leadership

Leaders who exhibit courage and compassion inspire trust and high performance not only within their organisations but also in society at large. Fear-based leaders are often more afraid of their anxieties and concerns about what others might think of them, rather than actual adversities. As leaders, it is crucial to be authentic, focusing on accomplishments over seeking affirmation, significance over security, and long-term sustainability over immediate victories. By doing so, we can lead our organisations and society towards a better future.

Austin Okere is a thought leader and business mentor. Currently, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Columbia Business School, New York, Austin has also facilitated at the United States International University in Kenya and consulted for the Sustainable Development Goals, Africa Centre in Rwanda. Austin was appointed to the Advisory Boards of the AACSB International and the Global Business School Network in recognition of his contribution to the development of business education and knowledge transfer in Africa. CWG Plc, the company which he founded, has been recognized as a ‘Global Growth Company’ by the World Economic Forum and is the largest security listed in the Technology Sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.