Learning Leadership

Chapter 13Courage Gives You the Strength to Grow

Courage is one of those big, bold words. It has this image of being something way out there on the edges of human experience. It's commonly associated with superhuman feats, life-and-death struggles, and overcoming impossible odds. It has such a mystique about it that you might think the concept doesn't apply to you. But looking beyond the headlines and tweets, you'll find out that this accounting of courage is certainly not the whole story. In fact, it's not even most of the story.

Courage is more prevalent than you might think. It's something every person has, and it manifests itself daily. Courage may be precious, but it is not rare. You may not access it very often, but it's there when you need it, and you'll need it if you're to become the best leader you can be. Despite all the talk about how leaders need to be courageous, very little is written for leaders about what it actually means.¹

The ability to face adversity without being overcome by fear is courage. Like grit, it involves the capacity to persist under extremely challenging circumstances but includes the additional element of fear. Not everything that requires grit requires courage, but everything that requires courage also requires grit. Courage is not about being fearless so much as it is about being able to control your fear. Controlling your fear is precisely what diplomat, activist, and the longest-serving first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, ...