• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

People Equation

Leadership Development and Career Success Tips

  • About
  • Services
    • Leadership Communication Coaching
    • Leadership Messaging
    • Writing Services
    • Thought Leadership
  • Portfolio
  • Blog
  • Contact

Are You a Courageous Leader?

by Jennifer V. Miller

Google the words “leadership” and “courage” and you’ll get 10,500,000 search results. Clearly, it’s a hot topic. If you’re a leader, it’s likely that you don’t think of yourself as particularly brave— that description seems reserved for heroic acts, like saving someone’s life, right? But, it appears that perhaps you have more going for you in the bravery department than you think.

So what, exactly, is courage? According to a New York Times article this week, science is getting ever-closer to defining the biochemistry behind what makes some creatures “fearless” and what makes others well, cowardly.

Early research into the topic over forty years ago by Stanley J. Rachman of the University of British Columbia, revealed three types of people:

  1. The Fearless. They lacked excessive amount of the “flight or flight response” and were able to do “scary” things fairly easily.
  2. The Handwringers. Excessive focus on their fear prevented them from doing anything.
  3. The “Do It Anyways”. These people feel physiological fear like the Handwringers, but yet somehow find the fortitude to do what the Fearless do.

Dr. Rachman called the “Do It Anyways” people in his research the ones with the courage, defining courage as “[a] behavioral approach in spite of the experience of fear.”

Mostly likely, you’ve interacted with all three types of leaders. Fearlessness may be admired in your company, but if it turns into recklessness, then it’s a problem. There’s no benefit to handwringing; it only prolongs the agony. And, leaders who just suck it up and do it anyway—yes, I think they are heroes.  

Which type of leader are you?

Jan 06 2011 · Categorized: Leadership · Tagged: Courage, Personal Effectiveness

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Master the people equation.
Elevate your leadership.

Tips for how to make the most of interactions with your boss, peers and colleagues; show up in a way that’s positive and respectful.

Topics

  • Bad Boss Diaries
  • Book Review
  • Business Management
  • Communication
  • Food for Thought Friday
  • Guest Blogger
  • Human Resources
  • Leadership
  • Learning
  • Office Politics
  • Personal Effectiveness
  • Social Media
  • Team Effectiveness
  • Training Delivery
  • Weekend Reflections
  • Workplace Issues
  • Zen of Jen

The People Equation blog by Jennifer V. Miller is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Footer

Follow the People Equation

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Statement

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Sign Up

Copyright © 2023 · People Equation