The past is the future, apart from courage and perseverance. Success is persistently taking the next step. Taking the next step takes courage.
“You will never do anything in this world without courage” Aristotle
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“In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm… in the real world all rests on perseverance.” Goethe
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The real power of courage and perseverance is they inspire courage and perseverance.
Inspiring courage:
- Explain that courage and fear always dwell together. Courage doesn’t eliminate fear, it answers it. Acknowledge the fears of others.
- Elevate courage by acknowledging your own fears. An occasional acknowledgement of your fear opens a window on your courage. Danger, too much acknowledgment makes others fearful.
- Focus fear effectively. “If people are more afraid of the boss than they are of the competition, the competition is certain to win.” Joe Tye.
- Give fear a name and it becomes just a problem; it’s easier to solve problems than it is to conquer fear. Joe Tye.
- Prepare for what you fear. Hurricane Sandy is on it’s way to our home in Central Pennsylvania. We’ve been preparing. I purchased gasoline and tested our generator, for example. Courage transforms fear into preparation.
- Create points of certainty. “People are not afraid of change, they are afraid of uncertainty…” Joe Tye. During change, for example, highlight things that aren’t changing.
- Focus on purpose. Why must you move forward? Facing uncertainty without purpose makes chickens of us all.
- “Lighten up and laugh – it is physiologically impossible to be frightened when you are laughing.” Joe Tye.
This post is a collaboration with my friend Joe Tye. Learn how to develop Perseverance and Courage in his webinar on October 31. More information.
Added resource: 1.5 minutes of my interview with Joe Tye: Changing Your Metaphors.
How do you face your fears?
How do you inspire courage in others?
Tags: Leadership, Leadership Development, organizational success, quotes
October 29, 2012 at 9:22 am |
I’ve found this to be powerful:
“We all make mistakes, its part of the process. I’ll stand with you, and we’ll keep moving….”
October 29, 2012 at 9:24 am |
The power of having someone stand with us is one of the greatest powers of all…
Thanks
October 29, 2012 at 9:41 am |
Dear Dan,
“People are not afraid of change, they are afraid of uncertainty” is a powerful statement. So, fear of uncertainty is more dominating than fear of change. There is a saying- if you want of overcome fear, kill the fear. You are right – be ready to face the fear. I think when we assume and ready to face worst situation, we become confident. So, we should visualize fear and work on strategy to face it. That is the way to overcome fear. I strongly believe that inspiring courage in others can be done by two ways- creating environment of courage and exposing people to situation where they have to take actions and decisions. When we create environment, it stirs feeling. That is the reason, leaders create environment and provide delegation and autonomy for people to take actions.
Perhaps the best way to inspire courage into others is by setting an showing personal examples. If leaders can not set the personal example, any amount of effort will not yield desired result.
October 29, 2012 at 10:01 am |
I like the approach of putting people in situations where they have to take action and make decisions.It puts leaders in the place of being supportive and “en”couraging – instilling with courage.
Thank you for your insights.
October 29, 2012 at 9:55 am |
Great points. Today’s world is in need of people who can lead, teach, and inspire others to be their best selves.
October 29, 2012 at 10:01 am |
Thank you Robert.
October 29, 2012 at 10:05 am |
Wow Dan so many things resonate with me about this post. Someone at my workplace recently observed that in their opinion, there is an atmosphere of fear here. That sort of converges with #3: 3.Focus fear effectively. “If people are more afraid of the boss than they are of the competition, the competition is certain to win.” Joe Tye. Although the fear at my org isn’t boss-oriented and we don’t have “competition” (b/c we are the sole non profit that does what we do), there is a winner when there is a culture of fear, and that winner is NOT achievement of the organization’s mission.
I also am thinking about dealing with a teenager who is facing some “life-sized” issues for the first time. I can tell that teenager till I am blue in the face that it’ll be okay, but she has to travel the path herself. I haven’t found the solution to that — the best I can do is respect those fears and not minimize them — they are very real and overwhelming to her.
Lastly, I participated in another run this weekend at a local correctional facility — our track club goes there to run with the women. (this is getting to the “focus on purpose” tip). One woman fell within the first tenth of a mile. Her knees were all scraped up. She could have given up, given in, but she had a focus: finishing the 5K, supporting her friends, meeting her goals. She allowed her focus to help her overcome the pain and fear. It was amazing to see.
October 29, 2012 at 10:23 am |
Thanks for the good word and your insights.
The winner is NOT achievement when fear dominates… that should put fear into the hearts of all leaders.
I always appreciate how you share your story. Thank you
October 29, 2012 at 10:34 am |
Hi Dan, Love the collaboration with Joe Tye. Joe and I go back many years and I consider him to be both a porofessional colleague (we worked together) and a personal friend as well. If you want a laugh, ask Joe to tell you about my interpretation of a book he gave me called “Small Decencies” by John Cowan. A great example of how we can see something that’s not there. A vaulable lesson for me.
October 29, 2012 at 12:47 pm |
A very well chosen picture of courage in the mouse/cheese picture! As Kouzes and Postner have said, leaders “encourage the heart”, and drive out fear. Fear of the known or unknown is one of the most visceral causes of resistance to change. There is no fear in love. A simple question for leaders, “Do you love those you lead?”
October 29, 2012 at 3:35 pm |
Issues normally don’t go away. Issues and problems get worse when we don’t deal with them in a timely manner. So I guess facing fears right away without delay is the way to deal with fears.
October 29, 2012 at 3:35 pm |
love the photo! Made me laugh out loud!
October 29, 2012 at 5:51 pm |
Great post.
Hope the generator keeps going through the storm. Stay safe Dan.
October 29, 2012 at 8:04 pm |
Thanks for the well wishes. So far, no power loss.
October 31, 2012 at 8:48 pm |
Timely post, I follow your blog, and it is all good, but every once and a while you post exactly what need, exactly when I need to read it. Thanks
November 11, 2012 at 11:43 pm |
Thanks so much for sharing your ideas concisely. You have given me lots to work with because you have helped to put things into perspective for me. Leading change is not easy but the things that you have suggested will certainly help.