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182 PART 3: THE PERSONAL SIDE OF LEADERSHIP
because they choose to stay with disabled aircraft, preferring the familiarity of
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the cockpit to the unfamiliarity of the parachute. Similarly, many leaders hurt
their o rganizations and their own careers by sticking with the status quo rather
than facing the difficulty of change. Most leaders initiating change find some co-

operation and support, but they also encounter resistance, rejection, loneliness,
and even ridicule. Taking chances means making mistakes, enduring mockery or
scorn, being outvoted by others, and sometimes failing miserably.
Courage means pushing beyond the comfort zone. To take a chance and im-
prove things means leaders have to push beyond their comfort zone. When people
go beyond the comfort zone, they encounter an internal “wall of fear.” A social
experiment from thirty years ago illustrates the wall of fear that rises when people
push beyond their comfort zone. To explore the web of unwritten rules that gov-
ern people’s behavior on New York City subways, Dr. Stanley Milgram asked his
first-year graduate students to board a crowded train and ask someone for a seat.

Milgram’s focus of interest soon shifted to the students themselves, as the seem-
ingly simple assignment proved to be extremely difficult, even traumatic. Most

students found it decidedly uncomfortable to bluntly ask someone for a seat.
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One now says of the experiment: “I was afraid I was going to throw up.” People
may encounter the internal wall of fear when about to ask someone for a date,
confront the boss, break off a relationship, launch an expensive project, or
change careers. Facing the internal wall of fear is when courage is needed most.
Courage means asking for what you want and saying what you think. Leaders
have to speak out to influence others. However, the desire to please others—

especially the boss—can sometimes block the truth. Everyone wants approval, so it
is diffi cult to say things when you think others will disagree or disapprove. Author
and scholar Jerry Harvey tells a story of how members of his extended family in
Texas decided to drive 40 miles to Abilene for dinner on a hot day when the car
air conditioning did not work. They were all miserable. Talking about it afterward,
each person admitted they had not wanted to go, but went along to please the
Abilene Paradox
Abilene Paradox others. The Abilene Paradox is the name Harvey uses to describe the tendency of peo-
the tendency of people to resist
the tendency of people to resist ple to not voice their true thoughts because they want to please others. Courage
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voicing their true thoughts or
voicing their true thoughts or
feelings in order to please others
feelings in order to please others means speaking your mind even when you know others may disagree with you and
ict
and avoid confl ict may even deride you. Courage also means asking for what you want and setting
and avoid confl
boundaries. It is the ability to say no to unreasonable demands from others, as well
as the ability to ask for what you want to help achieve the vision.
Courage means fighting for what you believe. Courage means fighting for valued

outcomes that benefit the whole. Leaders take risks, but they do so for a higher pur-
pose. Kailash Satyarthi, head of the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude, receives
regular threats and two of his coworkers have been killed, but Satyarthi con-
tinues striving to free India’s millions of children forced to work in
Action Memo
bonded labor. He doesn’t risk his life just for the thrill of it. He does so
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for a cause he deeply believes in—the dignity of all human beings. Taking
Assess your level of leadership courage by
Insight 6.3.
risks that do not offer the possibility of valuable and ethical outcomes is
completing the exercise in Leader’s Self-
at best foolish and at worst evil. Leaders at Enron, for example, pushed
risk to the limits, but they did so for selfi sh and unethical reasons. Cour-
age doesn’t mean doing battle to destroy the weak, feed one’s own ego, or
harm others. It means doing what you believe is right, even when this goes
against the status quo and possibly opens you to failure and personal sacrifi ce.
How Does Courage Apply to Moral Leadership?
There are many people working in organizations who have the courage to be
unconventional, to do what they think is right, to dare to treat employees and
customers as whole human beings who deserve respect. Balancing profi t with