Leading With Courage

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  Me, As "The Cowardly Lion"

  Note: This article is an excerpt from the “Stocking Your Leadership Super-Powers” book. Enter your info in the sidebar and I’ll send you the e-book free of charge.

  Leading with courage reminds me of when I ran for President of my student government.

  I had always dreamed of running for an office and being a student leader, and I figured that running for office on campus would be a good idea.

  The problem was I didn’t know hardly anything about leading an organization, and I had very little experience in student government. A lot of people were curious as to why I was even running against Geoff, who was a campus celebrity at the time.

  Anyway, I decided to run and campaign around campus. Students were generally receptive to my campaign. I listened to their concerns and talked with them about campus issues. I willfully threw myself into the fray.

  And I failed.

  Apparently, Geoff’s baby kissing and voodoo powers won people over and he beat me by like 100 votes. I bit the dust.

  But did that scare me away?

  Heck no.

  Geoff was so impressed with my campaign that he asked me to be his Vice-President.

  I buckled down and met with more people and discussed more campus issues.

  When the next election rolled around in the spring, and Geoff was graduating, I ran for President again.

  This time, I succeeded.

  I attribute a lot of that to courage. Sure, along the way I had moments where I questioned whether or not I could do it, but I stuck with it and said that I was going to become President no matter what.

  The only downside is that people started flocking to me for leadership advice, and I started having a hard time keeping up with everyone, but that didn’t bother me too much.

  Courage is showing bravery in spite of fears. Courage is standing up for what you believe in.  If I would have said “I don’t know anything about leadership, and I’m not good enough, and people are going to laugh at me,” I would have never been President.

  I showed courage in the face of danger and it showed people that I was willing to do what it takes to get the job done. People respected me for that, and saw me as a capable leader.

  Super Courage Building Activity:

  The truth is people are walking around scared out of their minds. I’m not joking. Some people can’t even get out of the house because they’re afraid the wind will blow them away or something.

  Get your hands on a list of phobias, and you’ll know what I’m saying.

  When people see you demonstrate courage, you set an example that you are not afraid to charge into battle. To get people’s trust, they want to know that you’re going to do what it takes to do the right thing, and that you’re not going to chicken out at the last minute because you got scared.

  Plus, people desperately want that courage. People are so afraid of what’s going to happen that when they see a leader who is courageous, they want to grab onto their coattails and let the leader pull them through the darkness.

  What kind of example of courage are you setting?

  Here’s the difference between fear and courage.

  Fear: I’m afraid of being poor. I really don’t want to be poor. I’d hate being poor. Why am I so poor? Why do I have to be so poor. Ugh. I’ll never be rich.

  Courage: I want to be financially successful. Some people may be poor, but I’m going to be rich. I’m going to do what it takes to become financially independent.

  Other commonly held fears are the fear of criticism, fear of ill health, fear of loss of love, fear that you’re going to lose your job or screw up something important, fear of old age and death.

  How would you advise a friend not to worry about these things and move forward with courage?

  What things scare you? Make a list.

  How might someone stop you from worrying about those things? Make another list of how you can overcome those fears.