“Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.” - Eddie Rickenbacker
John Maxwell, in his book “The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader” says courage is one of those key traits and that one thing in common with all leaders is the willingness to take a risk. He says some of the following traits make up courage:
-Courage begins with an inward battle - we fight ourselves and our own fears and courage is when we feel the fear and do it anyways (I LOVE that saying by the way!)
-Courage is making things right, not just smoothing things over - true leaders stand up for something. They have good people skills, but don’t appease people when the situation requires it of them. Their colors are shown when a situation is challenging or controversial for that is when true leaders step up.
-Courage in a leader inspires commitment from followers - a true leaders compels people to do the right thing and truly want to be courageous themselves.
-Your life expands in proportion to your courage - as you begin to take risks you see your life become richer, more nuanced, and with more color. It opens doors and makes the future that much better.
Courage is a true measure of a leader because everyone experiences fear and doubts and worries, but true leaders are ones who are able to experience that fear and step through it to get through to the other side. For the other side is often SO much better than where you started and it is where your power lies. What is one courageous act you can take today?
Monica Thakrar has over 18 years experience in business focused mainly on strategy, change management, leadership development, training and coaching resulting in successful implementations of large scale transformation programs.