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Cowards can’t lead. Inaction, pain, and failure follow cowardly leaders. Cowardly leaders:
- Won’t decide.
- Delay, posture, and blame.
- Reject responsibility.
The most surprising aspect of leadership is the courage it takes. When I began, I thought leading was about excitement. Today, years later, it’s about courage.
Input from Facebook, “Leaders need courage when …”
- They wake up every morning.
- Faced with lack of direction.
- Experimenting.
- Adding a team member.
- Endings are necessary.
- Giving bad news.
- They’re leading and when they’re following.
See more on Facebook.
Responding with courage:
Mark Miller, in, The Heart of Leadership, writes, “Leaders respond with courage when they:
- Articulate the vision for the future.
- Build relationships with challenging people.
- Challenge people to grow and change.
- Mend broken relationships.
- Confront difficult problems.
- Make hard or unpopular decisions.
Developing courage:
You aren’t leading if you don’t feel the need to act courageously. Every meaningful act of leadership requires courage.
Mark says a person develops courage when they, “Practice taking action.” Courage takes initiative. In a word courage acts.
Talk yourself into rather than out of.
Delay drains courage.
Fear:
Fear fuels courage. Think about what you and others will miss if you don’t respond with courage. Fear what won’t happen. Ask,
How am I falling short or missing out
because I refuse to take action?
Mark instills fear when he writes:
“Your missed opportunities are often no big deal in isolation. They are, however, cumulative.”
Fear is useful, but cowardice – unwillingness to act – has no place in leadership.
Summary:
- Every meaningful act of leadership requires courage.
- The first way to develop courage is to habitually take action. Avoid delay.
- The second way to develop courage is to fear what won’t happen if you refuse or delay action.
Connect with Mark:
- Twitter: @leadersserve
- Great Leaders Serve on Facebook.
- Free chapter of, The Heart of Leadership. (No strings)
How have you learned to respond with courage?