Courage - What is it and why does it matter?

Courage is the ability to act when you don’t want to. And because without it, fear will stop you from ever moving forward with purpose. Full stop.?

If there is one thing we know about leadership, is that it takes a huge amount of courage. Courage to get started. Courage to keep moving. If you asked the great stoic philosopher, Seneca the Younger, he would have told you that ‘sometimes even to live is an act of courage’. And he is right. Living takes courage, and so does leadership.??

Courage is about action. The right action. Even when you are scared. Even when you might not have all the information. But when you know something is the right thing to do.?

This article is not one of those motivational ones where I share with you the story of some great adventurer who was scared, but who got over the fear, and slayed the dragon and saved the fair maiden... Wasn’t Shrek a great movie!??

This article is about specifically when leaders need to display courage, and how they can do that. This article is about courageous leadership, and the buckets of courage that it takes to be a courageous leader (credit: wework.com).

Try Courage?

Fun fact. You might fail. You might fall. You might falter.?

But without the courage to try, you will never even get started. You won’t try new things. In his book ‘The Courage to Start’, John Bingham talks about going from an overweight couch potato to running marathons, and that he never would have completed all of those runs if he didn’t have the courage to start.?

If you ask Will Smith, he will say fail often and fail forward. I am a big fan of those words – and I can say hand on heart, most of the things I have ever tried in business haven’t worked. They were lessons, in the end, not failures.?

Here is the process. Have an idea. Tell the team. Get buy in (hopefully). Get started.??

You’ve got this – it just takes some try courage.?

Trust Courage?

In my many years as a leadership coach, one of the things that I have heard the most is that ‘if you need it done properly, you need to do it yourself’. Oh no, my immediate thoughts are - this will be a hard mindset to change. But it can be changed... If the leader is willing to give up control.?

And if the leader is willing to see the qualities and the value that their team possess. The infinite ability of the collective and their power to be autonomous, and to do their jobs better than their leader can. That is called transformational leaders, which is the leader having trust courage and the team members having try courage. Winner. Aka – transformational leadership.?

Without trust, leaders will never create more leaders. They will just create more work for themselves. And arrive at our next session being too busy.?

You’ve got this – it just takes some trust courage.?

Tell Courage?

The better you can articulate your vision, in a way that is based on your conviction, your commitment, and your care factor, the better your team can buy in to it.

This week, we are running a 2 day leadership workshop for leaders who want to make a difference, are willing to do what it takes, and are willing to stand up for something. That is the key. Part of that program will be for the leaders to unpack the first question of why they do leadership. The vast majority of our trainees have never thought about that question. Why do I do what I do. It is the first thing that a leader should be able to tell others. And then, they can articulate and engage people in the goals and objectives of the business or team. Winner.?

You’ve got this – it just takes some tell courage.?

Sources?

https://we.co/3BjKgPE ??

Coming Up...

We have our February webinar on Thursday, 24 February 2022 at 11:30am AEST.

Join Anton Guinea for this free 30 minute webinar where you’ll learn how to create conscious control and why it’s an important skill as a leader.

Key takeaways:

1. The?amygdala hijack
2. Connecting with your?smart brain
3. Emotional,?behavioural?and?situational?control

Register Now

About Anton Guinea

Leaders struggle with their mental health, too... Often finding it difficult to lead under pressure.

Anton is an entrepreneur, speaker, consultant, bestselling author and founder of The Guinea Group. Over the past 15 years, with over 150+ global organisations, he has inspired workplace leadership, safety and cultural change. He’s achieved this by combining his corporate expertise, education (Bachelor of Psychology), and infectious energy.

Get in touch ?with Anton today.