Wishing you a grateful forward-looking Independence Day

Monday and Tuesday are the Independence Day Holiday in Israel. The first night, the sirens sound and flags are lowered to half-staff, marking Remembrance Day and showing solidarity with the families who've suffered losses in defence of the country. The second night, sirens sound again, the flags go back to full-staff and we stand and sing The Hope (Hatikva, the national anthem), starting the celebration of independence and fulfillment of 2000 years of prayers and dreams.

If you're in Israel, we know the reminders of sacrifice and the price of freedom are everywhere. We hope there's also joy in looking around and seeing how far we've come and the support we have from good people in the world. If you're outside Israel, as we now are, we hope that you find a way to celebrate wherever you are.

And if you're not Israeli or don't identify yourself as a proud Zionist, we hope our City on the Hill is a beacon of the best that can be created with ingenuity, innovation, imagination and solidarity. We have a ways to go, to bring back our hostages, restore peace, advance equality and democracy, and to strenghten and widen economic opportunity, one innovation and one early-stage and growth-stage venture at a time. And to offer the world innovations that make this planet a better place to call home. We hope that our continued growth on these paths continues to inspire you to Make Courage Contagious.

Dr Louise Yochee Klein and Dr Merom Klein are Principals with Courage Growth Partners , a leadership, business psychology and human capital consultancy that shows leaders how to profit with a culture of ingenuity, partnership and principle to profit by accelerating adoption of innovation. They invite you to join them for an open office hour on Weds the 29th May - to learn how you can lead your team and your customers with courage, so you embrace adversity joyfully - as an opportunity to lift your game, get everyone on the same page and work together to make a difference.