Workplace courage

Leaders need to build courage in order to enhance their self-reliance and contribution to the team.

- ANGIE MORGAN

While I was learning how to lead in the Marine Corps, I was presented with examples of heroes who had sacrificed their lives for the safety and security of their colleagues to ensure mission accomplishment. Their stories were beyond inspiring. As a young student of leadership, these portraits of courage shaped the way I approached my role as a leader. I learned that courage was not just a responsibility, it was an imperative to be successful.

Now, as an author and consultant on leadership development, I often get asked to speak to groups about courage… not on the battlefield, but in the workplace.

Courage can seem like a surprising topic to discuss with business leaders, mostly because of how it is interpreted upon first reference. When people hear the word ‘courage’, they immediately think of physical courage—the proverbial “jumping on a grenade” to save the platoon. Obviously, this is not the work environment for most people outside of first-responders and hostage negotiators.

That being said, courage is still needed in business—arguably, now more than ever. As we approach our post-pandemic world, uncertainty still abounds. We need courageous leaders making difficult decisions, shaping the future, and innovating in ways that add value to their teams, business, and the world we live in.

To understand courage, it is important to understand that it is not action in the absence of fear. It is action in the face of it. There are plenty of situations we encounter at work that stir our fears and require courage: initiating layoffs in the organisation, accounting for missed performance objectives, and being the person to discuss the elephant-in-the-room issue.