In part 1 of this article we looked at the first six ways to practise growing your levels of courage in business.
Everybody wants to build courage in business, and many of us are brought up watching inspirational movies on the television or reading inspiring books, from Forrest Gump to William Wallace in Braveheart. While some decisions may not always be popular, it is important to remember that as a leader, your values are paramount.
Tips for adopting courageous leadership attributes
Every lionhearted leader knows that to be viewed as an authority figure in the workplace, the following approaches should be taken:
- Pursue the right opportunities – Keep your eyes open for new opportunities and pursue them with passion. Despite the fact that not every risk is a good one, you never know unless you find out!
- Reward team members for innovation – Risks are attached to innovation and could have a positive or negative effect on business, therefore rewarding employees for innovation will encourage them (and you) to work with audacity.
- Learn to relinquish control – You may be forced to bite your tongue when delegating tasks, but entrusting others with important duties will demonstrate courage on your behalf and will teach your team to be braver.
- Actively step outside of your comfort zone – Whether it is public speaking or presenting a conference, tasks like this will require you to step outside of your comfort zone and break the barrier between fear and fearlessness. Practise in front of friends/family to boost your confidence slowly, before facing the music.
- Make constant decisions – Decision-making is essential for business growth, but decisions shouldn’t be made by outside sources. If you envision a better solution, be daring and go for it.
- Listen to feedback – It’s not always nice to hear unfiltered feedback but by doing so, your leadership style and relationships can be improved immensely.
Looking at the list above and from Part 1 of this article, make a list of the areas that you feel you could work on in regards to developing your courage.
Remember that courage is all about facing your fears and areas that you are not so familiar with or good at and turning them into areas of strength and confidence. There’s no reason why, in time and with practise, the things that felt most scary to you are your biggest areas of boldness, respect from other and most valuable business assets.
For more ideas about developing your platform of success as a leader, check out my free Personal Leadership eBook – Don’t chase success, let success chase you.
