Courageous Leadership: Become The Big Egg
The content for today’s post on courageous leadership comes from John Maxwell and his book, Talent Is Never Enough. Mr. Maxwell is considered one of the foremost leadership experts in the world.
As a self-employed business owner and entrepreneur he understands the challenges of not only starting up your own business but in running a small business. And, he also understands that courageous leadership can take your small business and move it to a higher level.
Courageous Leadership: Making Difficult Small Decisions
He starts out, “When I began my leadership career, I was very ineffective as a leader. I believed I had talent. But when I got out into the real world, I fell far short of my expectations. How did I turn things around? By making small decisions that were difficult.
With each one, I gained more confidence and more courage, and I began to change.”
Courageous Leadership: It Takes Time
He goes on to say, “The process took me four years. At the end of that time, I had learned many valuable lessons, and I wrote the following to help me cement what I had learned.”
He lists ten points as to what courageous leadership means. As a personal business coach and an individual who believes in personal development I could readily identify with these points from my own personal experience and that of my clients.
Courageous Leadership: The Ten Points-Quoted Directly From John Maxwell
- Convictions that are stronger than my fears.
- Vision that is clearer than my doubts.
- Spiritual sensitivity that is louder than popular opinion.
- Self-esteem that is deeper than self-protection.
- Appreciation for discipline that is greater than my desire for leisure.
- Dissatisfaction that is more forceful than the status quo.
- Poise that is more unshakeable than panic.
- Risk taking that is stronger than safety seeking.
- Right actions that are more robust than rationalization.
- A desire to see potential reached more than to see people appeased.
He concludes by saying the following: “You don’t have to be great to become a person of courage. You just need to want to reach your potential and to be willing to trade what seems good in the moment for what’s best for your potential. That’s something you can do regardless of your level of natural talent.”
He leaves us with this final thought on courageous leadership. “Make a small decision today that will increase your confidence and leadership courage.” That’s the start to courageous leadership.
