Courage

Courage - Not something that someone usually talks about at work. I have worked with folks from various countries on initiatives however have never ever heard people talk about courage openly. This is something like "the birds and the bees" - it is always there but you never talk about it !

Why don't we talk about courage in the business environment so openly like we talk about ROI, Initiative, Mergers, Acquisition etc. etc. I think it comes down to the fact that people talk about the "Risk" of doing business, the "Risk" of executing a project however are afraid to say that they have the courage to go down a path that they choose based of some data. Why are executives afraid to use the word "courage"? Because, in my opinion, they are afraid of failure. Afraid of being seen by their team that they were not courageous enough to take the more risky path that would have ensured success.

Courage in the business parlance does not really end when something fails. Courage really kicks in when something fails. I see more and more executives having very little courage to stand-up and say that "I am responsible for this failure". It takes a lot of courage to accept failure. I agree someone in your team did not perform his / her role and therefore the team failed. However, more and more executives do not have the courage to say that they were the leaders of the team that failed. Finger-pointing kicks in rather than courage. Enron is a prime example.

So, the next time someone asks you why did you select the a particular option in your business, are you going to say it was the least risky or you are going to say because I am courageous I took the option that will ensure success? Think about it!