Bravery and Leadership

Become brave, and you will become a leader. What does this mean?

Let me first say that I was not always brave, and I was not always a leader. Through trials and errors and heartache and sadness and hurt, I learned that bravery was the skill I needed to become a true leader.

I had to become a person who was willing to have hard conversations, and who was willing to step into the ring of uncomfortableness.

I needed to be okay with hurting and disappointing other people, even if it wasn’t my intention.

I learned that some people might not like me at the end of whatever we were going through, and that’s okay.

To develop my bravery skills, I dove into learning what leadership really was. I started to look at leaders from history, leaders that were in my local area, and I observed leaders that I wanted to be more like.

I pulled the lessons and events from history that resonated with me, and I got into rooms with local leaders to pick out details of their strengths and my areas of improvement. Leadership became a practice for me, and by observing and testing, I started to develop my own leadership style.

Here’s how I now describe my leadership style:

• I’m my own person.

• I confront bullies.

• I say and do uncomfortable things if it’s the right thing to do.

• I see and embrace the potential in others.

• I constantly strive to do better and be more.

• Everyone is welcome at my table.

Leadership is an ongoing practice for me, and it’s one I still practice to this day. Sometimes I fail, and sometimes I’m great at it. There are times when I want to run from it, but I do it anyway.

Becoming brave led me to become a leader. And I know it will for you too.