Ashley’s Reviews > Courage: The Backbone of Leadership > Status Update

We learn and teach courage by modeling. When we see or hear a story of courage, we can own the tale. Courage grows in community. The stories in this and other books are now yours. We all stand in the Ring of Life. Your coach, all those seemingly distant, stands with you, seeing in your eyes of possibility.

Like the courageous communication model, the blackbox solutions model has four artful steps. 1, assess what's broken. 2, accept the failure. 3, repair the failure. 4, team up and work together.

Courageous leaders do three things and do them well. The first is respecting all persons, the other leadership act's - giving encouragement and support and challenging wrongs - build on it. So when we have a relational crash, respect is the first performance behavior we check.

To respect is to value – to be concerned for the other. It means not violating or disregarding the person. It's not friendship, it's a strict discipline of leadership, regardless of feelings.

Courageous leading begins with honoring all persons and ends in correcting wrongs. In the middle are the behaviors of encouraging and supporting.

The courageous leader clearly and decisively differentiates between people and rewards, recognitions, promotions, assignments, and bonuses. Theae do not reflect respect - they reflect merit. Holding to this difference requires discipline, and being disciplined requires courage. Don't be deceived: respect is a tough and demanding leadership skill. It takes backbone. It is not touchy or feely.

Respect is the first behavior of leadership. Respect is the human ignition switch and starter flag for principled relationships. Without unflinchingly consistent for all persons, leaders cannot lead and managers cannot manage.

Three types of motivating power: the first power is athority - do this or else. The second power is reward, do this and I'll give you that. The third power is courage. Ethically modeling and inspiring others to be their best selves and to act courageously for what is right.

Courage trumps authority. And even trumps physical violence.

Asking questions about problems is aligned with respecting, encouraging, supporting, and modeling courage. Anyone can worsen the situation by criticizing and judging; courageous leaders possess the principles to demonstrate disciplined and rightful conduct under emotional pressure.