Leading So People Will Follow

More Than Physical Courage

We typically think of courage in the physical sense: a soldier storming a bunker with bullets whizzing above or a firefighter pulling a child from a burning building. This particular sort of courage is rarely needed in the workplace, but it offers clues about the essential nature of the quality. A firefighter who goes into harm’s way to save a child, for example, has made a difficult choice quickly in the face of incomplete data: there is no way of knowing exactly how dangerous this task will be. The firefighter’s choice puts him or her at risk, yet he or she takes this risk to benefit another person, acting in spite of his or her own fear and hesitation. This third point is particularly important. We tend to think ...