Courage “In the Arena”

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”  - Theodore Roosevelt,  Paris,  April 1910

The other day, I came across this familiar quote and was struck by the similarities between Roosevelt’s description of a leader and  SLG’s approach to leadership. Roosevelt was a difference-maker. His exhortation for us to “dare greatly” is a call for undaunted courage. This kind of courage is the sixth SLG virtue. Courage enables the primary LITER (love, integrity, truth, excellence, relationships) virtues.

Why Courage?

It takes courage for a leader to give encouraging feedback without blame or attack after something goes wrong – especially when the critics and naysayers are calling for “heads to roll” – for “accountability” – the punishment kind of accountability. Sometimes negative action is appropriate, but it takes courage to fend it off when it’s not the right course.

It takes courage to tell your boss that we should not “shade” the truth to make our results look better.

It takes courage to set high standards in the pursuit of excellence – when you could just “get away with” less.

It takes courage to spend a good part of your day at the funeral of a team member's loved one when you have deadlines looming.

It takes courage not to throw a rival under the bus to make yourself look better.

It takes courage to step out of your shell and learn every teammate’s name and something about them. And while you are at it, to earn their trust so that they are comfortable giving you bad news as well as good.

It takes courage to care about others. To implement the idea that “People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.

It takes courage to admit you are wrong, especially if you are a team leader.

It takes courage to spend your time mentoring a future leader on your team when you know you/they will be long gone by the time they can reap your wisdom. It takes courage to be a leader who puts leaving a legacy of future “difference makers” ahead of short-term gains.

It takes courage to turn around and talk to your boss, before “they are looking over your shoulder.”

It takes courage to take on challenges before they snowball into big problems or according to Covey’s seven habits - it takes courage to spend much of your time working on important things before they become urgent.

It takes courage to be a “difference-maker” – in the arena.

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Bruce is the President of Flagship Coaching LLC where he uses his passion for teaching, mentoring, and coaching to enable executives to get results. He serves on the board of directors and as a mentor at Severn Leadership Group. Bruce has 35+ years of experience in executive leadership, engineering operations, and finance. He is a lifelong learner with a solid background in leading in technology, financial services, government, and not-for-profit.

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