Leadership Isn't For Cowards: How to Drive Performance by Challenging People and Confronting Problems

Chapter 8

What Is Real?

How’s that for a deep question? There’s no need to explore the deepest philosophical reaches of the universe to answer it, though. Reality is factual, not perceptual. Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or perceived state. Despite whatever clichés might be floating around out there, reality is not hard to figure out. Once the emotions, opinions, and other distractions are stripped away, reality is left.

Being courageous as a leader involves a rigorous commitment to accept reality. Section II of this book has been entirely committed to acceptance—to an understanding of your circumstances and how you can leverage them in your leadership without surrendering to them. To do that, you first have to know what your reality is.

There are two kinds of reality: the current reality and the desired future reality. Both are straightforward, but many leaders lose sight of these two important realities when it comes to day-to-day decisions.

The current reality is the reality that is right here, right now, in this moment. It is the factual representation of the current state of being for the circumstances you are in. It is the way things are right now, without any emotional or subjective bias. Your current reality forces you to focus on what is, without making mountains out of molehills or vice versa.

While it seems simple and obvious here in black and white, it is much harder to execute this focus in your leadership behavior. ...