“True courage is not the absence of fear—but the willingness to proceed in spite of it” ~ Author Unknown
Courage in the Workplace: Part 1
My role as an adult educator requires that I attend professional development training events. Last week, I had the opportunity to view a unique webinar provided by Training Magazine Network. The webinar featured Bill Treasurer, who is the author of Courage Goes to Work. Bill Treasurer views courage as a means of organizational development and cultural transformation. In today’s blog posting, I will give you a brief overview of Bill Treasurer’s Courage Goes to Work philosophy.
As a former professional high-diver, Bill Treasurer has had many opportunities to be courageous! In other words, he has tested out his model of courage in real world settings! A foundational premise of the Courage Goes to Work model is that everyone can learn to develop courage and act courageously. Additionally, when people are courageous at work, then the entire workplace benefits!
Most folks tend to enjoy life in the safety of their self-described comfort zone. This is the place where we feel in control of our surroundings and comfortable in our abilities, interactions, and relationships. Unfortunately, life’s great opportunities are usually located in unfamiliar territory, outside of our comfort zone and right in our discomfort zone! In order to seize an opportunity we must move away from our comfort zone into our discomfort zone. Moving from our comfort zone to our discomfort zone takes courage. Thus, in the workplace, we find ourselves having to use courage to move toward new opportunities outside of our personal and organizational comfort zones.
Treasurer suggests that when people are courageous at work a cultural change is manifested. More people take responsibility for their actions, and blame other less. Change and mistakes are not feared, but embraced. Instead of walking away from difficult moments and decisions, people “step up”. When courage is present in the workplace more people graciously speak up to authority and less people cower and gossip. Courage helps folks to be positive, instead of suspicious and distrustful of others. Lastly, courage in the workplace fosters confidence and reduces fear and anxiety.
The Courage Goes to Work model suggest that courage is tied to workforce and organizational performance. Fearful people do not perform well. Fearful people are full of anxiety. Fearful people become physically, mentally, and emotionally sick and perform below par. Fear in the workplace is tied to low level of creativity and innovation. In our current economic climate, fear in the workplace must be replaced by courage in the workplace.
Stay tuned for my next blog posting: The Courage Goes to Work model is described.
