During a recent leadership training session for VISTA (the domestic Peace Corps), we had a thoughtful discussion about leading and managing with courage.
Examples shared and discussed by these emerging young leaders included:
- speaking up to protest an action contrary to stated values
- deciding to take action based on information at hand that covered 90% of the situation without doing exhaustive analysis to get to the remaining 10% of the data
- providing input during a large meeting when you’re an introvert
- doing something that’s unpopular even though it’s the right thing to do
- bringing up the unspoken elephant in the room
- trying something new or taking a risk
- giving your boss feedback
A pretty impressive list for some courageous young people just beginning their leadership journey!
My hope: that these young people manage to hold on to their moral compass and courage when they join the workforce. There’s nothing like walking the tightrope of holding onto your first big job so you can make your car payments and working in a culture that stifles innovation and calling out the elephant in the room.
What’s your hope for these young leaders?
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Quotes about courage, bravery, and doing what’s right
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e.e. cummings
Unless we discover actual truth, morality is up for grabs. ~Pamela Christian
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. ~Coco Chanel
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon
Courage is grace under pressure. ~Ernest Hemingway
Men are more moral than they think and for more immoral than they can imagine. ~Sigmund Freud
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. ~André Gide
Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow. ~Mary Anne Radmacher“
I believe that the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare. ~Maya Angelou
Morality is how you go about getting what you want without screwing anybody to get it. ~unknown
Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway. ~John Wayne
I feel braver just reading this, Jane! I would add “taking decisive action to meet a time-sensitive customer need, especially when the solution requires an unconventional approach.” The powerful combination of good judgement and customer advocacy becomes unstoppable when mixed with courage.
Great add, Tristan! Stepping into unconventional approaches can take the customer experience to new heights of satisfaction and loyalty…more companies need to make it so!