5 Courage Truths
Emboldening truths about courage: for building courageous teams, leaders and practice
Hello You,
Many organisations are focus on creating psychological safety. Rightly so.
Wanting to realise the benefits of innovation, diversity of thought and a speak up culture so that people feel safe to share ideas, mistakes and opportunities. Ask questions and raise concerns.
Psychological safety however isn’t a behaviour. It will create the environment for the behaviours, lay the foundations. But to bring the desired behaviours in to the space of action, requires courage, on the part of the individual as much as on the part of collectives.
What holds this behaviour back in the first instance? Fear. Of choosing courage and taking a risk, step in to the stretch zone. The discomfort and uncertainty of doing things that are difficult, can be personal, cultural and societal. They can be learned, conditioned and deeply rooted and embedded in both systems, identities and cultures.
This is why it’s important to be able to situate the behaviours that courage in organisations asks of individuals, in relation to power dynamics, the self, others and the culture.
To help develop a mindset, framework and perspective in teams and individuals to help them situate their bravery will create dramatic shifts in understanding, behaviour and also mental wellbeing.
Here are 5 emboldening truths about courage from the Be Braver programme that help strengthen mindsets and practices to center courageous decision making and action.
1. Courage will always reward you in unexpected ways.
Our brains aren’t always providing us the optimum forecasts to inform out decision making when it comes to taking a risk. When we sense threat, risk or fear confirmation and attribution biases in our brains are going to be giving more weight to the things we fear and have experienced before. What we think we know and understand.
When we choose courage and step in to the stretch zone of the novel, new and unexplored, we aren’t able to predict all the possible outcomes we may encounter, because we haven’t experienced them yet.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t positive outcomes or valuable insights to be gained, even if we don’t realise our desire outcome. See point 4. We may find more of ourself in the process. Unforeseen opportunities, connections, insights and discoveries. Because we can’t see it - doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Having the courage to reach out to a potential mentor for example, may lead to rejection. Then when they connect you with someone else, or come back to you in a few months when they have more capacity, you realise what assumptions you made and unforeseen gains there can be.
2. The courage we see in others is the measure of our own.
Often we look at others and see their actions or decisions as brave and courageous, we are viewing the world from our own vantage point. Creating a story from our understanding and experiences of the world. As if they are the same for others.
Considering the risks, difficulties, discomforts and challenges that action or decision would mean for us. Which won’t always be the same for the person we observe it in.
Challenging the CEO in a meeting on a decision, might look bold, until you realise the politics in the board room. Until you become aware there had been an agreement and discussion between both parties before the meeting took place.
Or telling yourself you don’t have the courage your peers have. To leave employment and start up a business. Which might seem quite different when you understand that they don’t have the same financial risks that you do, or that they have a network of peers able to offer them the opportunities they need to get the business off the ground. Courage isn’t equitable.
3. On the other side of courage is the person you are becoming.
It is only when we move ourselves out of our comfort zones and stretch ourselves in to new experiences and opportunities do we learn and find more of who we becoming. Whether that is as a group, and individual or a business.
We are human beings. Becomings. We are not static. We are evolving. Constantly responding and adapting to a changing and growing environment. Our internal and external worlds.
The gap between who we have the potential to become, and where we wish to be heading, will only widen the longer we avoid taking intelligent and calculated risks.
We become limited by avoidance and maintaining the status quo. We create cultures and fuel cultures that desperately need to change when we opt out of choosing courage.
With courage, making a values aligned intentional decisions, we move further forwards to the future we want to create. We become ourselves. See our true reflection in the merits of our decision and actions not the outcomes which we often can’t control.
4. Most courage is invisible, it's only truly know to the self.
In Be Braver we distinguish between commendable courage, visible bravery, personal bravery and quiet courage. Courage isn’t always an action. Bravery isn’t always visible to other.
This is because not all courage is known and seen to others. In fact personal courage and bravery is very often only really known to the individual. The risks and fears we encounter when we decide to do something brave are often psychological. Not physical. Not always socially recognised or visible.
This is the insidious way that power suppresses the courageous and the brave. By peddling a narrative that courage and bravery looks a certain way. Those with the least power are often the most courageous of all. Are conditioned not to recognise it.
If we discount and diminish our own courage. We don’t recognise it. Who benefits? What is the cost to our sense of self and becoming.
5. We are born of courage, not with it. We practice it.
Courage is not a trait. A disposition of character. It’s a practice. We can model it. Learn it and practice it. Build it. Inspire it and share it.
As leaders, its essential that you do share it. If most of the courage that is practiced is invisible, how do teams and individuals become inspired to practice courage if they don’t see it in others?
If your peers are looking to see courage, they can only look for that which they recognise as being similar to the costs, risks and fears that where they are situated they see? Yet we know this isn’t how it works. Quiet courage, personal bravery.
We need to be able to build on the foundations of psychological safety, to create the spaces for courageous decision making and brave actions, that are share. Before, during and after.
So that courage is more visible. Creates connection, builds trust, shares learnings and increases wellbeing at the same time as growth, innovation and creativity.
Creating shifts in behaviour, awakening our courage and realising its limitless potential isn’t as difficult, painful or complex as we think.
It starts by recognising the brave within. Building self and other awareness of courage. Creating spaces for practice and reflection.
Choosing to bring more courage is a pretty simple first step.
Hop on a call and I can surprise and delight you with some of simple, powerful and innovative ways Be Braver has made impactful results. For teams. individuals and organisations.