Leadership starts with leading yourself.
King David wasn’t always a king. When he was an adolescent, he was an unimportant shepherd. He was low in stature and had little influence on anyone other than with his sheep within his care. He wasn’t required to do anything grand, notable, or meaningful. Far from seeming like nobility, his older brothers only thought of him as some young punk who should stay in his lowly place.
Never did anyone around him think that David would be known for going to battle and slaying the gigantic Goliath armed with nothing but a sling and some small rocks. Never did they think that he would amount to much other than a shepherd.
But something happened on the way to the battle…
Inventory Check
If you are familiar with the story, you’ll know that young David and his country’s army were up against an opposing army that was so feared that his side trembled just thinking about going up against them. They were so afraid because the other guys had 9-foot tall monster named Goliath as their front man. This gigantic warrior was so menacing that just the thought of him made seasoned warriors cry in fear. They did not want to go against Goliath with their armor and weapons and held off their fight.
But David did want to fight. But not with traditional weapons.
Young David had something else in mind when he decided to go up against the seemingly unstoppable force. David felt ready. He had earlier taken stock of his personal attributes, skills, and resources and he knew that he was equipped to win. He had the faith to go ahead with what he knew was right. He felt that he could go take care of business with tools that he already had much experience with.
David on the Battlefield
David came to the battle with his own set of tools. He was highly skilled at slinging small rocks at targets. He practiced this much as a child. And although he was only thirteen years-old, he had mastered his weapon of choice as well as any marksman had with their weapon of choice. When David saw his army afraid to go ahead into battle, he felt the need to help out a cause and risk his personal safety so that a greater good could be achieved.
He refused the extra armor that was suggested for him and simply walked up to the abominable force with the tools that he trusted. He told that mean old giant what was about to happen and “opened up a can of whoop***” on him. He simply took small stones and placed them at high-speed right into the giant’s forehead, killing him where he stood.
Then he chopped off his head. At age 13. Now that’s resourcefulness!
He toppled a gigantic force and saved the day. So fearful was David’s enemy who no longer had their giant that they fled the battleground in terror. Young David stood up to a force and engaged in systematic change that benefitted his whole team. He did it with confidence because he knew that he was on the right side and was doing something needed and honorable. And he knew that he had the skills and faith to carry out his task, fear and all. David’s faith in his abilities and sense of righteous purpose helped many that day and beyond.
Dana In the Workplace
Well, mirroring this tale of David on the battlefield is the story of Dana and Goliath. Her battlefield was her office workplace and her Goliath was a VP several levels up.
Dana was a young woman practicing her craft deep in the land of Corporate America. Dana was a fresh and optimistic person who had her share of workplace battles including sexual harassment from superiors at a previous employer. But like many before her, she found herself up against a gigantic force in a battle that didn’t look like there was going to be a good outcome. The battlefield that Dana was in was the competitive environment of a high-pressure sales management team. This unit battles in the sales department in a Fortune 20 company. The stakes are always high and often times the workplace battles fought here are not against competing firms, but with internal political structures or with people in a leadership role there.
Dana was the only female in a male dominated world and she was seen by some as nothing more than that thirteen year-old boy named David going into battle against fierce men with front line giants on their team. But Dana was different from most young women. She was like David. She had experience, skill, determination, purpose, and a moral compass that guided her. And she regularly took personal inventory. She knew how to go ahead when righteous duty called with faith and confidence. After all, she practiced this much.
Dana Get Your Sling
Dana had faced issues in earlier positions at other corporations that prepared her for success with her Goliath moment. Her moment came when an executive had a very unfortunate incident and lost his cool in a one-on-one meeting. This Goliath of a man was generally feared and made people beneath him tremble.
Fear, intimidation, and ridicule were his weapons of choice.
His caustic explosion in one particular meeting with Dana was a culmination of many previous experiences that would make most people of any gender crumble. But Dana was not going to stand for the “9-foot tall monster” coming down on her. Because she was prepared and had taken inventory of her strengths and resources, she went to battle against her foe. She was protected by corporate policies that forbade such behaviors and took this giant to task. She reported the incident through proper HR channels and filed a complaint. All the while, Dana knew that this powerful executive could have her removed if he wanted to. HR handled it well and clobbered the Goliath.
As it turns out, the Goliath of a man was actually a nice guy who didn’t know that his tough-guy persona had become a “Goliath-suit” that he wore. Being reported to HR was a way for him to take off the Goliath suit and kill that persona that caused him the problems. He apologized and completely changed his demeanor toward Dana and others.
Victory for Courage and Faith
As the next year played out, Dana was cautious toward the new demeanor and was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never dropped. Goliath was dead. In fact, the bravery, fortitude, and specific action that Dana took was later heralded by the former Goliath as being the right thing to do. This person’s strong personality deeply respected the strength that Dana showed and he actually became a fan of hers. He sponsored her for a promotion less than a year later. He told her that she should even mentor and coach other younger women in the workforce on how to stand up for themselves and for what is right. Even as the incident gave him poor marks on his annual performance measures, he said that her strength and courage that he got to witness made it all worth while.
Dana’s faith in her abilities and sense of righteous purpose helped many that day and beyond.
Go Dana, Go!
So, how are you at practicing your skills that might one day be used to slay a giant? How are you taking inventory of your personal toolbox so that you will have it ready to go when the battle cry comes? How are you at practicing courage on a small-scale every week so that you build that courage muscle? And have you stepped up to slay a Goliath in your world? I would love to hear your stories!
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Tom Schulte is Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership &
CEO of Recalibrate Professional Development in Atlanta, GA USA.
He can be reached at [email protected]
Image Sources: students.umf.maine.edu, thumbs.dreamstime.com, thumbs.dreamstime.com, atomictoy.org
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Great post Tom! And a timely reminder of the importance of courage in the workplace.
Interesting article. I have been in many situations, where I was “stopped” by all parties concerned from pursuing what I believe in and my convictions [ based on facts] told me to pursue it . They are so afraid and worry that ” you will be screwed and shown the exit entrance if you pursue your believe and conviction” ..or those who stopped me were the one who worried that their position were at stake ? Sometimes I am confused and Dana has been very lucky for the person to quickly realized that he was in “Goliath suit” and changed accordingly.