LEADERS WHO COURAGEOUSLY COMMUNICATE

Duda Owner IONOS • June 23, 2015

Great leaders commit to courageous communication when that is necessary to correct a bad situation. Sometimes, specific personalities or team dynamics threaten to undermine progress. A great leader is willing to identify who needs to hear what, and then makes it happen.

Catherine Courage is the senior vice president for customer experience at Citrix Systems. She reflects upon a leadership situation that demanded some courageous communication and the effect that it had upon Courage and her team (Arianne Cohen, “Good Boss, Bad Boss” Bloomberg Businessweek , 4/13/15–4/19/15, p. 76):

My team of 20 was reorganized under a leader who knew little about our business and didn’t engage us. Support was never coming, so I learned to tell him what the team needed. It’s a lesson I’ve carried through my career.

Leaders who courageously communicate are the people we should seek and the people we should become.





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