Be Courageous!

Have you ever wished you could be more courageous, especially as a leader?  How do great leaders show up in the midst of uncertainty and change?  My January 6, 2026 blog post provides seven reactions to change and uncertainty that effective leaders practice. Let’s take this one step further and talk about practicing courage instead of fear in the midst of change and uncertainty.

Ranjay Gulati, Professor at Harvard Business School, has published a guidebook for those leaders who want to be more courageous. In his book, “How to be Bold, The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage”, Dr. Gulati reminds us that courage is not the absence of fear, and further, courage is taking action in the presence of fear.

Dr. Gulati explains in his book that life has become more complex and challenging for organization leaders while those leaders have to answer to multiple stakeholders in the midst of navigating massive change.

It is common for uncertainty to cause human beings to freeze and have a hard time determining a next best course of action.  The small percentage of leaders who don’t freeze in the face of uncertainty find paths forward for themselves and their organization.  They often rise above the uncertainty to create new opportunities for their companies and their people.

Dr. Gulati also explains in his book on courage that risk and uncertainty are not the same.  Risk is something strategic, forward-thinking organizations calculate continually.  Risk is assumed in business and non-profit organizations and is something that can and should be included in long-term planning. Uncertainty arises when leaders do not have enough valid information about the future and it includes unknown probabilities and as well as unknown impacts.

How do we keep fear from hijacking us and rendering us immobile?  We need to create rituals and practices to calm ourselves in the eye of the storm.  We need to recognize the fight or flight reaction when it happens in our brains and learn to calm ourselves.  Practicing box breathing, exercising, and moving to different surroundings, can help us calm ourselves enough to begin to think of preliminary ways forward.

Pick up a copy of Dr. Gulati’s book if you need to learn to be more courageous.  Who amongst us doesn’t need to learn this valuable skill?  As Winston Churchill wisely stated, “Fear is a reaction.  Courage is a decision.“