The clock nearly strikes 9 on a late, June summer night. The room is quiet. Not even the crickets outside can be heard. No one else is in the building except for the ten of us seated inside the small classroom.
“I can teach you confidence. I cannot teach you courage . . . When you walked in with no idea what was on the other side of the door—that is courage.”
That one statement seemed to echo off the walls and sat itself directly in my mind. Though the outside world was a deep, dark pitch black color, inside our little classroom, the lights were on for everyone.
***
Truly, some wise words I heard recently. For those who may not know, I started taking the Dale Carnegie course these last few weeks. The quote mentioned earlier was from our course instructor.
It got me thinking.
What is courage? How do we define it? More importantly, how do we explore it inside and outside of the workplace?
According to Merriam Webster dictionary, courage is the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.
In other words, courage is the strength to do hard things.
The difficult things.
The things we pretend don’t exist or try to ignore.
You know . . . Those things. Everyone has their own set of things they like to avoid.
Courage is not the absence of fear. As humans, it is impossible to not experience fear, uncertainty, or intimidation to some degree. It is unrealistic to expect ourselves to go through life completely unafraid.
True courage is the ability to face a situation head-on despite being afraid.
This raises the question, how do we explore courage inside and outside of the workplace?
In the workplace, it can sometimes feel intimidating to speak up or suggest ideas during meetings. Good leadership can foster an environment where employees feel safe sharing their thoughts, opinions, and ideas without fear of being shut down or ridiculed. In the right environment, one can thrive and feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. While there is still a chance your idea may be rejected, the feeling of regret for not expressing yourself will linger longer than a temporary sting of being told “no.”
So, if you have an idea you’d like to share the next time you’re in a Teams meeting, have courage and speak up! It can lead to a very rewarding future down the line.
Other instances of courage can be seen when we introduce ourselves to new people whether at work or in our personal lives. The truth is, when meeting someone new, walking up to them, and introducing yourself — it is INTIMIDATING! Very scary!
By introducing yourself to someone new, you plant the seed to the beginning of the relationship—and you truly never know where that can lead. They can change the direction of your career. They can be your best man or maid of honor at your wedding—the possibilities are endless.
By having courage and initiating an introduction of yourself, you set in place what can ultimately be a very positive and impactful relationship in your life.
Has there ever been a time you were afraid but still faced a situation head-on? When did you show courage in your life (at work or in your personal life)? Let me know in the comments below!
Practicing Courage in the workplace is definitely intimidating. But it definitely helps when you have a work environment that active encourages their workers to speak up and bring their ideas and questions to the table!
I think I overcame the fear of asking questions but the next step is knowing when to ask questions is? Because I tend to hesitate because of the timing. “Is now the right time to ask?”