It is interesting that the word brave is so often watered down. “No, no”, they say, “you don’t mean brave, you mean take calculated risks.” Well I don’t really – I mean be brave. Things are moving fast, and by the time most things are fully calculated the opportunity is likely to be gone. I met someone from China last week who said she found the UK truly desperate to work in because things went so unbelievably slow. We are going to have to move faster, and to do this we will have to be brave enough to make decisions that are not calculated ones. Some failures will happen as a result, and we will have to be brave to face up to, deal with and then live with them.
Be brave
July 6th, 2009 · 4 Comments
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Mike Chitty // Jul 7, 2009 at 08:55
Bravery – a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear
Some bells ringing here:
1 Why is bravery any more important or relevant for ‘leaders’ than for ‘followers’? A leadership elite perhaps?
2 Bravery implies taking on unfavourable odds and therefore inviting failure and defeat – different cultures respond to this in different ways. Most bureaucracies actually value/promote those that avoid risk and failure – not understanding its connection with innovation and transformation. If you want to ‘get on’ in these setting bravery should be avoided.
3 What is wrong with showing fear? Repression of emotion does not generally make for good leadership. Perhaps it is about courage rather than bravery – acting inspite of fear.
4 Personally I think it is about being comfortable with risk and conflict and having sufficient honesty and integrity to to what is felt to be right – even when it leads to an uncomfortable place.
5 Strong relationships can be far more tolerant of courage/bravery in action. Build relationships which can stand the radical truth.
2 Jonny Timms // Jul 8, 2009 at 07:19
Brave leaders know that they cannot avoid mistakes. Leadership is a practical art, learnt by experience. We should let our colleagues and those we lead teach us. Always bringing to mind what they can give to us as well as what we can give to them.
3 Ian Jones // Jul 14, 2009 at 17:34
Taking risks without calculation is recklessness and can lead to a lot of innocent casualties.
A leader can quickly weigh up risks and make a fast decision that will more often than not be correct.
A leader who seeks to cover their back by endless recourse to committees and research will undoubtedly miss the opportunity.
The decisive leader will probably work in an organisation that is more interested in achieving success, whereas the cautious leader will be in an organisation that punishes failure.
4 How I Lost 30 Pounds in 30 Days Without Diet // Jul 24, 2009 at 00:48
Thanks for posting about this, I would like to read more about this topic.
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