How Do You Work On Courage?
Don Ballard
Impact Leader | Leadership Coach | Non-Profit Consultant | Faith and Spirituality Guide | Speaker | Strategy Samurai (no belt) | Faith Driven Futurist | Predictive Index Certified | Team Builder
The 80th celebration of D-Day has been going on this week. There are only a few soldiers alive who stormed those beaches and dropped from the sky all over France. The campaign was not perfect, but the end result was a big turn in WW2 and the end of the Nazi threat. Great military and political leaders of that day gathered soldiers, weapons, weather reports, boats, bullets, and supplies in preparation of the premier invasion of the world's greatest war. More than anything, they assembled a collection of courage the world has ever seen. And history was written.
Courage is not just displayed in wars or in conflicts. There is a high element of courage in nearly everything we do. It requires courage to speak the truth in delicate and/or divided situations. It is a courageous act to stay put or stick to it when everyone else is bailing. It takes courage to trust in others and let them lead. It is a courageous act to drive in a car during Houston rush hour. It is even (especially?) a courageous act to eat at McDonalds with the thought that we will survive to eat another day. You get the point. Courage is displayed in big and small things, all over our life, and in each of our days. But how do we develop or cultivate courage?
领英推荐
We have to see courage in ourselves. We must embrace the moments when we have acted courageously and repent of the moments when we refused to use it. We have to see courage in others and praise them for it - publicly. We have to make courage a topic of conversation, a subject of study, and an object of our desire, so that when the moment arrives for us to act with courage, we are well prepared and already leaning in that direction. Courage takes work. Courage takes risk. And courage takes character.
Think today about your courage level. Work on raising it higher so that you and others benefit from a courageous leader. Look for moments to step up and step out on your courageous conviction. Let courage soak down into the essence of who you are so that when you act with courage, no one is surprised - especially you.