I found a article from Time Magazine, dated July 25, 1969 titled, ESSAY: ON COURAGE IN THE LUNAR AGE. The opening paragraph says:
“ “COURAGE leads starward; fear toward death”, wrote Seneca. Man needs courage simply to live in spite of knowing that he must die. He needs it to live richly – to take risks and thereby define himself. There are many kinds of courage, moral and physical, but all involve a struggle against heavy odds.”
The article goes on to link courage with collaboration in a way that exemplifies what the business community needs more than anything . . . the courage to create a new trajectory in our economic universe.
It is time to come together and show the world that we are more than the fraud that we see on the front page of the newspapers; we are more than the greed that somehow mesmerized our hearts; and we are still that same nation that took a President’s request to heart 5 short decades ago and found the courage to send 3 brave men to the moon. I was only 1 at the time, but in the last several weeks I can feel the energy that was here 40 years ago. Tears fill my eyes when I hear recordings of the astronauts, with their humbled excitement, share their journey with a young nation that has more strength and more perseverance than we sometimes realize. Given the events of the past 2 years, I can think of no better time to have a celebration and a reminder of what united us 40 years ago.
Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who had the extraordinary courage to fight hate with love. He would have been proud of Apollo 11 and certainly proud the day Barack Obama was elected President. Let’s make him proud again and show him that we can come out of this economic disaster better than we went in. Our values will be stronger, our convictions wiser, and our kindness more evident. I was born on the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and that fact has created a special connection for me to his courage and this country, just as those born on July 20, 1969 when Apollo 11 landed, and those on September 11th, 2001 will carry a special connection.
Courage comes when we realize that our fears are typically not very helpful, and in fact, most of the time they are quite hurtful. Perhaps they were a bit more useful for our prehistoric ancestors hunting on the open grassland, but not so much for a 21st century executive trying to connect with his employees. Generally, people find that they are more afraid of the prospect of something bad happening than they would be if it actually happened. That’s because people are more resilient than they believe and will adapt when necessary. Unquestioned fear prevents us from realizing our full potential by paralyzing our actions. Courage is the ability to move beyond fear and into action. Success is always born from action and never from inaction or reaction.
Tom Nicholas, a Harvard Professor, recently wrote an article for the McKinsey Quarterly titled INNOVATION LESSONS FROM THE 1930’s. He reports that during the Great Depression, those firms that continued with research and development projects and made sizable investments in their businesses were several years ahead of the competition that decided to wait until the economy had a better outlook. In 1930 DuPont recorded the discovery of neoprene. They increased their development spending despite the fact that sales were decreasing. Polaroid, Hewlett-Packard, and RCA are also examples of innovators during times of economic unrest.
The leaders of DuPont, Hewlett-Packard, and RCA all had the courage to look beyond the fear of the current economy and press forward with what they believed in. It takes real leadership skills to go in the direction opposite of the herd. And I’m afraid that we have largely become a community of herd followers. There is far less courage and creativity in the workplace than we have the potential to produce.
The world needs more leaders that have the courage to tap into the wealth of creativity that is available within their organizations. Employees are not being utilized to their potential. Brilliant ideas remain hidden inside many organizations. We need to find the courage to look at business with a new perspective.
Do you have the courage to tap the hidden potential and brilliant ideas that lie within your firm? Do you have the courage to execute that plan that you know in your gut will be a home run, but is just so far out in left field? Do you have the courage to be the leader that you dream of being? Do you have the courage to consistently push the boundaries and committing to a life of surprise and success? I know you do.
When I am feeling a little low on courage, I often think of people like Nelson Mandela and Viktor Frankl, who epitomize what it means to be courageous in the face of unfathomable circumstances. When the outside world and external forces are going well, it’s somehow easier for us to be courageous. When the outside world is looking dismal, it may be more difficult, but the payoff will be far greater.
Hemmingway once defined courage as “grace under pressure”. I like that!
