Courage in leadership is the first step to new thinking
It’s easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone. Courage is continuous learning process going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.
Courage faces fear and thereby masters it. Cowardice represses fear and is thereby mastered by it. Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it. Courageous men never lose the zest for living even through their life situation is zestless; Cowardly men, overwhelmed by the uncertainties of life, lose the will to live.
We must constantly build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear. Never allow your head to be buried in the grave of the fearful, mediocrity, and purposeless. Get up and begin to produce something great with your life. Stand out and stand tall.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbour will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.
During my interactions with new joiners and Masters students across Europe and in India, many aspiring leaders ask me how to become leaders and what are the qualities that need to become one such. The first thing that comes to my mind is being courageous .
Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion no matter where it is exercised. Courage gives us strength. Courage opens doors. Courage saves lives. Courage helps us grow in small and big ways.
Courageous leaders are in high demand and short supply these days.
Courage isn’t a natural response to difficult situations and decisions. It’s a learned and practiced one. Courageous leadership involves fighting through your natural responses in those moments, which will ultimately hold you back.
Courage doesn’t develop overnight — it is part of the long and uncomfortable process of learning
All leaders — and all people, for that matter — have fears. And they’re rarely unique. Everyone fears failure when they aim high. Everyone fears looking foolish when they try something new. Everyone fears damaging their reputation when their name is attached to a decision.
These fears tell you to do nothing. Doing nothing is the easy choice. It feels low-risk. It doesn’t grab attention.
We are also hard-wired to avoid loss or, more specifically, to avoid losing something we already have. Missing out on a huge potential win is also a loss, but it’s less tangible and easier to dismiss. This bias is so deeply ingrained in our thought patterns that we may not even notice it affecting our decisions.
A courageous leader is an individual who’s capable of making themselves better and stronger when the stakes are high and circumstances turn against that person.
The three buckets of courage
There are three main types of courage when it comes to courageous leadership in the workplace:
- Try courage: Try courage is the courage required to take the first step in something. If you are doing something for the first time, that takes courage. You might fail, you might get it wrong, or you might do something completely incredible.
- Trust courage: This is the type of courage required to relinquish control. As a leader, you will need this courage in order to delegate to your employees, to give over control to staff, and to show your team that you trust them. This type of trust not only shows your staff that you trust them, but also that they can trust you not to micromanage their work.
- Tell courage: Tell courage is the courage you need to speak openly and with conviction about your beliefs and ideas. Often, doing this can be very scary, especially in a business setting. Courageous leadership means providing your team with positive and constructive feedback on a regular basis, even if what you have to say is going to make someone feel uncomfortable.
Using those three buckets of courage, you can take precise actions that will make you a stronger leader for yourself, your team, and your business.
To work on your “courage muscle,” dedicate the next month to being courageous. Every day, schedule time and plan for courageous acts big or small in your calendar. Each courageous act feeds the next. Take notice. Watch how confident and empowered you’ll feel and how much more you’ll accomplish when you’re not held back by fear.
Being a courageous leader means strength, creativity, intellect and embracing uncertainty. It means maintaining a positive attitude, being willing to take risks for the greater good, adapting to ever-changing conditions and remaining curious about your team and what they can accomplish without preconceived limits.
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“Never give up.
Never give up on your hopes.
Never give up on your dreams.
Never give up on your visions.”
The key is to stay focused and work hard towards achieving your goals.
Good luck!
If you wanna share your experiences, you can find me online in all your favorite places LinkedIn and Facebook. Shoot me a DM, a tweet, a comment, or whatever works best for you. I’ll be the one trying to figure out how to read books and get better at playing ping pong at the same time.
