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Consider This!

Is It Worth the Risk?
Getty Images To laugh . . . is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep . . . is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out . . . is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings . . . is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd . . . is to risk rejection.
To love . . . is to risk not being loved in return.
To live . . . is to risk dying.
To hope . . . is to risk despair.
To try . . . is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
Those who risk nothing do nothing and have nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or love.
Chained by their certitude, they are slaves; they have forfeited their freedom.
Only one who risks is free.
© Janet Rand

rewarding life, as discussed in the Consider This box. For today’s organizations,
things are constantly changing, and leaders thrive by solving problems through
trial and error. They create the future by moving forward in the face of uncertainty,
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Courage
Courage by taking chances, by acting with courage. The defi ning characteristic of courage
the ability to step forward is the ability to step forward through fear. Courage doesn’t mean the absence of
the ability to step forward
through fear
through fear
doubt or fear, but the ability to act in spite of them. As U.S. Senator John McCain
puts it, “Fear is the opportunity for courage, not proof of cowardice.” 49
In fact, if there were no fear or doubt, courage would not be needed. People
experience all kinds of fears, including fear of death, mistakes, failure, embarrass-
ment, change, loss of control, loneliness, pain, uncertainty, abuse, rejection, success,
and public speaking. It is natural and right for people to feel fear when real risk is
involved, whether the risk be losing your life, losing your job, losing the acceptance
of peers, or losing your reputation. Consider that Charles Darwin put off publishing
his Origin of Species for two decades because he feared public scorn and ridicule
from his peers. But many fears are learned and prevent people from doing what
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they want. True leaders step through these learned fears to accept responsibility,
take risks, make changes, speak their minds, and fi ght for what they believe.
Courage means accepting responsibility. Leaders make a real difference in the
world when they are willing to step up and take personal responsibility. Some people
just let life happen to them; leaders make things happen. Courageous leaders create
opportunities to make a difference in their organizations and communities. One soci-
etal example is Barbara Johns, an ordinary 16-year-old who made an extraordinary
difference during the Civil Rights movement in the South. Johns led students of her
segregated high school on a 2-week strike after a bus full of white students refused
to pick her up. The NAACP stepped in and helped the young people sue for an inte-
grated school. The Johns family home was burned the same year. Other young people
took a stand too, with some children as young as grade school being jailed for protest-
ing the segregation of lunch counters, community centers, or sports leagues. 51
Leaders also demonstrate courage by openly taking responsibility for their
failures and mistakes, rather than avoiding blame or shifting it to others. David

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