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Sandra Walston

February 2015 - TD Magazine

Whether you’re in the C-Suite or a cubicle, all employees can benefit from using courageous leadership skills.

Courageous Leadership Matters at All Levels

Opportunities for courage leadership occur at work nearly every day, and are often the defining moments of a person's career. Unfortunately, most people don't consider courage to be a primary work value. They mistakenly believe that courage is relevant only during particularly perilous times, or that only executives can demonstrate courage leadership. In reality, courage is crucial in a wide range of work situations, and anyone in a company can demonstrate courage leadership. Whether your position is entry-level or executive, how you confront work issues and how you manage your professional development speak volumes about your courage quotient and set a leadership example for other people. Courage, however, means a lot more, and it is key for each one of us. Courage is the first human virtue because it makes all of the other virtues possible. Courage leaders don't give up easily on opinions and judgments they feel to be right, even when challenged. They're not close-minded; rather, they leave conformity and safety behind to offer opinions and solutions that may be unpopular. People with courage state their goals and then work backwards to find ways to achieve them. They develop new models when old models don't work. They move forward and upward, never quit, and take risks to reinvent themselves. Their drive for constant learning and improved performance builds their courage and helps them achieve success.

Sandra Walston

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