Courage to Continue Counts

If you asked a colleague, friend, or family member to list words that describe you would courageous be one of them?  Have you met anyone courageous? 

I’ve been blessed to have a few courageous people in my life and one that stands out for me is a friend from high school.  She has spent her entire life managing chronic OCD and yet she has always grabbed life with a grip stronger than most. 

The dictionary defines courage as strength in the face of pain or grief or the ability to do something that frightens or the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.  Albert Einstein said, ‘Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.’ 

When business leaders are courageous and promote an attitude of courage in the workplace, they initiate innovation, drive development, and generate growth.   

Our most recent and monumental displays of courage came out of the adversity of the COVID-19 pandemic and there are many businesses leaders who deserve to take a bow for being courageous through this time. 

9 key traits of a courageous business leader, they:
- share their vision and ideas with their teams; demonstrate a willingness to do something new or to do something differently
- have a genuine desire to empower their teams
- continuously strive to equip their teams with the tools needed to perform optimally
- have faith and trust in their teams to follow through and look after customers with the best interests of the business at heart
- have the emotional intelligence to step up and say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t understand’
- are driven to take initiative, support others and are not afraid to be themselves; are convicted in practicing their beliefs and values in the workplace
- and they empower their team members to also be courageous. 

Courage breeds courage and as Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.”

 I stated earlier that promoting an attitude of courage in the workplace initiates innovation, drives development, and generates growth.  It will also give the business a competitive advantage through market share growth, increased profitability, and marketplace relevance.