Picture the cowardly lion singing to his companions. They're sitting outside the door of the hallway to the great OZ. Proceed to the last line of the song...
Cowardly Lion: "What do they got that I don't got?"
Dorothy, Scarecrow, & Tin Man: (in unison) COURAGE!
Cowardly Lion: "You can say that again!"
The lion wanted courage because he understood that in order to be the King...in order to lead...it takes courage.
But what kind of courage?
I'm not going to lead a troop into an assault on another army. I'm not even looking to raise my fists toward someone else. I don't think I'll need to rush across a flaming bridge to save the people on my team.
So most of the time, I don't need physical courage.
But if we are to be effective in our leadership, we will need a courage of conviction.
This is the kind of courage that's required in...
the battle of ideas
the promotion of values
the accountability of teammates
the integrity of our work ethic
the grey areas of our day to day decisions.
It takes courage to stand up, to stand alone, and stand out because of one's convictions. Often it's the courageous person that says the thing that needs to be said.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: What convictions do you have that require courage to remain true to them?
SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT: If you have courage of convictions, does it mean that you're right?
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Tim Milburn
Student Leadership Consultant & Speaker
www.studentlinc.net
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