The Courage to Be Different
When recording our Meta-cast on July 14th, we explored a topic Josh brought up about AI potentially impacting our human creativity. Initially as a concern, but as we explored it, the implications became more detrimental to us humans.
As part of the discussion, we talked about leaders who support the status quo in their organizations. For example, if a company went all-in on an AI transformation, every leader would be expected to blindly and unequivocally support that strategy.
Josh then said something that has stuck with me. It was—
Leaders need the courage to be different
And I dropped the mic on that point.
I can’t agree more with Josh.
And I don’t think we’re talking about—
Being different to be difficult,
Being different to be disrespectful,
Being different to get fired,
Or being different to be cool.
It’s having your own principles and ethics, and the ability to think creatively. And if you don’t buy something someone is pushing, have the courage to say so. Or the courage to suggest ideas out of the norm.
It’s embodying, well, leadership in its truest sense.
To not follow the herd when you know that the herd is heading in the wrong direction. To be bold in voicing your opinions.
As Josh and I reflected, we realized that we’ve both held to this mantra in our leadership journeys. It hasn’t been risk-free, but it’s always served us well. You can see it in our leadership Meta-cast podcasts too. We’re always challenging the status quo of traditional leadership.
So, I challenge every leader reading this post.
Have the agency, courage, and resilience to be different.
When you’re sitting in that rocking chair at the end of your leadership career, looking back, you’ll thank me for this advice.
Stay different, my friends,
Bob.
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The courage to be different is also, in my experience, one of the qualities that makes experienced professionals most valuable in fractional and advisory roles — precisely because they have accumulated enough pattern recognition to know when the herd is heading in the wrong direction, and enough independence from any single organisation’s politics to say so without the career risk that silences people inside permanent roles. The executives who built that habit of honest dissent throughout their careers tend to bring it with them when they move into portfolio work, and clients who are genuinely ready for it find it transformative. What do you think most often stops leaders from developing that courage earlier in their careers?