Seven Phenomenons of Courage

The concept of management requires seven different types of courage, and the actions that stem from them.

1- Personal Responsibility Courage

Improving the individuals in your team cannot be achieved simply by sending them to vocational training or motivation courses. In fact, self-improvement is the only way to truly promote growth. There is little you can do for someone who does not want to receive what is being offered to them. Your job is to create favorable conditions for your team members to develop themselves.

First and foremost, take responsibility for your actions and set an example for your team. Everyone makes mistakes, but they present important opportunities for growth. To move forward, you must be willing to take responsibility for your mistakes.

Encouraging your team to take responsibility for their work is another important aspect of your job. Here are some steps you can take in this direction:

• Share your vision. Make your team feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. Continuously talk about how things are going so that your team is part of your vision and can improve you as well.
• Include them in goal-setting meetings. Involve your entire team in the process when tough decisions need to be made. Improve your opinion with their feedback and comments so that they also feel the responsibility. Instead of saying, “The CTO wanted it, and we did it,” they will start saying, “This was more appropriate.”
• Explain your reasons when making decisions. You cannot just say what needs to be done. Workplaces are no longer places to seek unconditional obedience. You must explain why a job must be completed in a given timeframe and why a specific person was chosen for the job. You cannot expect the team to perform their work without explaining the reasons for these and similar situations.
• Let them choose how to do it. You revealed the problem, and your team came up with suggestions for a solution. You have put forward your opinions and concerns concerning the company. However, if they still insist on a poor solution, guide them with the right questions. After asking five “why” questions, they will find the right way.
• Delegate authority. In these situations, the manager retains authority while transferring responsibility. If you want a job to be successfully completed by someone on your team, you must also delegate full authority. Otherwise, you will receive hundreds of emails asking questions. If you don’t want to sow the seeds of a show-off culture to top management, give authority and responsibility together.
• Trust your team. Sooner or later, you have to trust them. If you do so without compulsion, you will greatly contribute to your team’s sense of responsibility. Insecurity is an issue in our society. If you do not trust your team, you will be no different from a body without limbs. This is actually a reflection of one’s self-confidence.
• Let them solve the problems themselves. Don’t just answer a question and send them away. Instead, ask them questions that will allow them to find the answer themselves. After receiving the answer, congratulate them and tell them that they no longer need to come to you for such problems.
• Hold them accountable for their work. When you delegate a job, let them know that success or failure will also be under their name. Accountability is a heavy burden. People who are capable of carrying this burden are generally affected very positively by this situation.

2- Courage of Intuition

To improve oneself and aim high, it is important to work on improving as a whole. We often unconsciously know or anticipate many things. In the business world, some individuals are said to have a “sixth sense” or to be “great judges of character,” and this is typically true. A good manager can sense others’ intentions and prevent possible threats before they materialize. So, is intuition an innate skill, or can it be learned?

I once had a valuable teacher whose words still echo in my mind. He asked us to give the definition of an engineer. We provided some mediocre answers, such as “someone who transforms theoretical knowledge into practice,” but we could not satisfy him. In fact, the lecturer said, “An engineer is a person who can successfully take a shot in the dark with the education they received.” What a beautiful definition, isn’t it? You may not use all of your past training today, such as the integral problems you solved during your studies or the programming languages you learned. However, the engineering education you receive affects your intuition and enables you to make the right decisions.

Similarly, your ability to judge character develops over time. Unfortunately, there is no school for this skill. The fastest way to learn it is to fail a lot and be cheated a lot. If you make it a lifelong practice, this skill will develop over time, and you will be able to easily sense people who have a hidden agenda.

3- Courage to Succeed

We cannot improve ourselves without achieving different things. Success must be earned and maintained through hard work and dedication.

Chris Grosser, a sales consultant at Tesla, believes that opportunities do not just appear. You must create them. If you truly desire success, turning risks into opportunities will become second nature.

Author and entrepreneur Jim Rohn suggests that successful people do things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. He advises against wishing for an easy path and instead encourages wishing for personal growth and improvement. It is no coincidence that the best business ideas often arise from tasks that people find tedious or unpleasant.

4- Courage to Be Elite

Let me start by stating that I don’t mean the elitism that comes with power, but rather the elitism that comes with success. A good manager should be able to say, “I am here to be successful, and everyone around me who believes in me will be a part of it.” A sincere person won’t complain or lose motivation due to negativity.

Claiming to be elite requires proof, which may create enemies, but this should not be avoided. Shareholders and a company’s board of directors always want to work with elite people. They want to entrust the company’s valuable capital to people who represent their elite stance, not to those who are doomed to lose.

You must represent the smiling face of the company, hungry for success. Don’t hesitate to show your elite stance. Stand upright in the face of the difficulties you may encounter. Your team also expects this courage from you.

5- Radical Vision Courage

Even if everything seems fine for your company today, it’s inevitable that someday someone will disrupt the status quo. Who could have predicted that Airbnb would challenge the entire hotel industry or that Uber would surpass taxis in popularity?

In today’s world, great successes are achieved by taking conventional businesses that progress slowly and transforming them. When a company has been doing things the same way for decades, it’s easy to believe that it’s the only way to do the job. This is a very human and natural response. However, as a visionary leader, you know that you can’t achieve anything by imagining the ordinary.

You must have a radical vision and be positioned to make it happen. Therefore, it’s necessary to avoid associating with people who have small goals.

6- Courage to Rule

By definition, managing involves taking responsibility for others and leading them. Being a leader means:

• Keeping an eye on the ultimate goal
• Giving direction for decisions
• Confronting obstacles
• Managing your emotions
• Setting an example for others
• Taking a stand (even if it’s unpopular)
• Gaining the trust of others

Great leaders never hesitate to establish rules that will lead to more efficient work. In one story, Steve Jobs was about to start a weekly meeting with Apple’s advertising agency when he noticed someone new in the room.

“He seemed out of place,” Ken Segall, who told the story, said. “His eyes were focused on something in the room that didn’t seem right.”

Jobs pointed at the new person, Lorrie, and asked, “Who are you?”

Lorrie calmly explained that she had been invited to the meeting as part of related marketing projects.

Jobs heard her and politely told her to leave. “I don’t think we need you at this meeting, Lorrie. Thank you.”

Steve Jobs unconditionally adhered to his rules. When President Barack Obama invited him to a meeting with executives from all the tech giants, Jobs declined, saying there were too many people at the meeting for his liking.

As a true leader, don’t be afraid to set certain rules that will benefit your company and your team. Leading requires courage and consistency. As long as the rules are beneficial, they will become part of the corporate culture over time.

7- Power and Desire for Power

Being a CTO requires you to have faith in yourself as the right person for the company’s technical vision. You must also possess the necessary vision and power to make this vision a reality. If you lack this belief, unfortunately, you have little chance of success in that company.

Power does not permit hesitations. If action is required, you must take it, regardless of how difficult it may be. Do not hesitate to exercise your power, even if it results in making enemies. However, it is important to use this power in a positive manner, or else your goals will never be achieved.