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Leading Wholeheartedly: A
Quality Approach
Getting the Best by Having the Courage
to be the Best
“God grant me the courage
to be fully myself.”
—Buckminster Fuller
The word courage comes from the French word
“coeur” or heart. Literally, finding your
courage is to find your heart. To excel in life,
whether as an individual, team, or organization,
requires the full engagement of seven acts of
courage, acts leading to living and leading
wholeheartedly. What kind of “heart” am I
talking about? The courage to dream; to listen to the
dreams, aspirations, and hopes of others; and then to
express it in a framework that captures the best of
what we wish to create. This becomes the
“vision” for which we aim and how we
measure our actions. The courage to express a vision
creates future pull, drawing us into the
very best of what we have to offer.
Yet, the courage to dream and then express it is
only the first step. We need the courage to see our
current reality: the good and the not so good, the
strengths as well as the weaknesses. Without a clear
understanding of where we stand, we have no realistic
framework for moving forward. Only after we know
where we want to go and have assessed where we
currently stand can we make use of the next five acts
of courage required to excel in life and in leading
others.
If we know where we want to go and clearly see
where we currently stand, then the next five acts
will involve how we get there. We have to develop the
courage to confront others respectfully if we are to
successfully challenge those around us to step up to
a higher level of working, relating, and living.
Nothing can happen unless we can find our voice in
the moment and speak up in order to challenge.
Yet, if we can confront others but lack the
courage to be confronted, we send a mixed message.
“I can confront but will not let anyone
confront me.” Only when we have the heart to
really listen to criticism in order to learn and
increase overall effectiveness can we really model
integrity in our dealings with others. Without
integrity, there can be no excellence in the way we
work or live.
The next three acts of courage help us tap the
full power of the heart in creating excellence. We
need to practice the courage to learn and grow with a
willingness to look awkward as we learn new skills,
step into ambiguity, and give up the addiction to
being “right.”
We also need the courage to be vulnerable, to let
others know how much we need them in order to
create something extraordinary. The courage to be
vulnerable is to be open to life, to others, and to
possibility. It is a state of dynamic humility.
Finally, if we are to create lasting excellence,
we need to find the courage to act, to put our money
where our mouth is. The courage to act is where the
rubber meets the road and means putting it on the
line. Without it, the other acts of courage come to
naught.
Creating excellence can only occur in the context
of all seven dynamic acts of courage. How is your
courage quotient? Are you ready to excel?
ROBERT EARL (DUSTY) STAUB
II is a nationally known author
with two books in print and is the founder and CEO of
Staub Leadership Consultants. He facilitates
leadership development programs for individuals and
organizations and is based in Greensboro, NC. E-mail
your questions to questions@staubleadership.com
or call 336-282-0282.
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