The Courage To Lead: A Series

Authored by: Marc Maltz, Lee Kuczewski, and Jena Booher, Ph.D.

Volatility is here to stay, demanding that executive leaders embrace new perspectives and ways of operating to be successful. Political turmoil, market uncertainty, and rapid technological change have created an environment where discerning one’s voice amid pervasive noise is increasingly difficult. Drawing on our experience as business psychologists, executive coaches, and entrepreneurs, we present two foundational tools: psychological courage and the Person-Role-System (PRS) framework. Together, they equip leaders to navigate complexity with clarity and confidence.

In our practices, we’ve noticed a striking pattern: more people are outsourcing decisions that should be guided by hard-earned wisdom. They’re reaching for answers in external tools and voices, and now AI, rather than turning inward. At the core of this shift is fear, a potent source of internal and external noise that undermines focus and fragments identity. The solution is not more data or external validation. The solution is in developing psychological courage: the resolve to act with integrity despite the presence of fear. 

Courage is not the absence of fear. It is a conscious choice to act in line with core values while embracing fear. Fear often drives over-functioning, such as micromanagement, or under-functioning, such as avoidance, which ultimately damages trust, productivity, decision-making, and improvement.

As noise cannot be eliminated, leaders must recognise and manage it, using tools like noise audits to address bias and inconsistency. The greatest threat lies within: disconnection from self, values, and purpose. Psychological courage enables leaders to confront uncomfortable truths, resist conformity, and preserve clarity amid ambiguity. 

To better frame how courage and fear operate, we highlight the PRS framework that clarifies three intertwined forces shaping leadership choices: the internal narratives forming identity (Person), the responsibilities and authority inherent in roles (Role), and the broader cultural, technological, and market context (System). Effective leadership requires integrating and aligning these dimensions while exercising psychological courage. By practicing courage within the PRS framework, leaders can see how personal history, role dynamics, and systemic forces intersect. The courageous leader will foster self-awareness, reflection, and integrity, cultivating cultures that are likewise courageous and resilient. 

In an ever-noisier world, leadership is about embracing and understanding noise, and reshaping one’s response to be anchored in the courage to act when it matters most. 

This four part series will help you understand noise, embrace your fears, take a new organizational perspective, and be courageously successful:

• Part 1: Courage to Lead

• Part 2: Courage and Person

• Part 3: Courage and Role

• Part4: Courage and System

Please stay tuned and join us in this exploration.

Jena, Lee, Marc