There’s one lesson we all share from 2020, and that is that adversity comes to everyone! The dilemma isn’t whether turning points will happen. The real issue is what you will do once you’re at a crossroads. Will you fall back and hope for someone else to take the lead, or will you speak up, speak out, and fight the good fight?
In the November series, Make Courage Personal, we’re talking about how you can combine the lessons you’ve learned this year with soft skills to create a new definition of courage that is lasting and made just for you. In the past, we’ve sometimes mistaken courage as putting your head down, trying to overpower a person or situation. However, might doesn’t necessarily make right. Instead, take a more elegant approach: Find a new kind of courage by weaving the soft skill of healthy self-esteem with a passion for the truth. Let me tell you how a poor sharecropper’s son made his courage personal.
You may know the story of John Lewis: As a teenager, Lewis became inspired by the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He quickly became a student activist movement leader, organizing protests and joining the Freedom Riders in an attempt to end segregation in the South. Lewis almost died after being beaten when a march at the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama turned ugly. He carried the scars of the attack for the rest of his life.
What you may not know is that Lewis was also arrested during five protests while he served in Congress. He took his long arrest record in stride, remarking, “You’re never too young or too old to lead, to speak up, to speak out, and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. You must lead. You must get out there, as Dr. King would say, and be a headlight, not a taillight.”
Like John Lewis, you also have constant opportunities to display courage. That’s because trouble usually starts with small situations. So, having the insight to see that something is out of order is just the starting point. Next, you must be brave enough to do something about it, or as John Lewis would say, “To do what is right, what is just, and what is long overdue.”
Has a circumstance been brewing where you realize it’s time to speak up, speak out, and maybe even stir up some good trouble? Where do you need to have the confidence to do what is right, just, and perhaps long overdue, either for yourself or others? Get started by noodling on the sentence, “I speak up to _____.”
For instance:
* If you’ve had a nasty square-off with a loved one, say, “I speak up to slowly rebuild trust.”
* If you see a work project going sideways, take charge, and be the team headlight. Say, “I speak up to find common ground.”
* If you see someone being treated unfairly, be their ally. Say, “I speak up to change an injustice and make things right.”
It can be tough to take the lead. It’s nerve-wracking to say what others may not want to hear or to stand up for yourself. But digging deep to find a new kind of courage is what being the creative, wise CEO of your life—a Soul Boss—is about. So, whenever you feel like falling back into the shadows, listen to your heart whispering, “Speak up and speak out.”