6 Types of Everyday Courage
Courage is not about waiting for the big moment.. it is about building the muscle to respond to the small disruptive challenges every single day.
Tanmay Vora
At a time when the world moved slower, courage meant bracing ourselves for the rare crisis emanating from wars, depressions, natural calamities and so on. It was about moving past these challenges despite of fear, standing firm when the ground beneath us shook.
Today, the ground keeps shifting under our feet. Leaders operate in an environment of constant and overlapping disruptions. Geopolitical tensions, economic shocks, technological leaps, automation, the AI tsunami, social polarization.. each day brings a new set of challenges.
For leaders today, demonstrating courage has to be a daily discipline.. because each decision carries risk and each choice demands wading through ambiguity. Braving the unknown is required in everyday flow of work.
In this context, I loved reading Alex Budak’s article on Harvard Business Review titled “6 Ways to Practice Everyday Courage”. He says,
“Conventional advice often confuses courage with bravery, an innate and heroic quality that can be summoned during a one-off crisis. But courage isn’t an instinct; it’s a muscle built through consistent, values-aligned actions taken in the presence of doubt, risk, or fear. This kind of steadied, practiced response is what I call “everyday courage.” It’s especially powerful in moments that feel too small for a headline, but big enough to shape organizational culture, trust, and legacy.”
In his article, Alex provides a playbook comprising of six types of everyday courage – outlined here in my sketchnote summary. (Read the full article here)
Bottomline: Courage is not about waiting for the big moment.. it is about building the muscle to respond to the small disruptive challenges every single day. Because leaders who practice everday courage are the ones who create momentum, inspire trust, and help their organizations thrive in the storms of change.
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