I remember sitting at the dinner table when I was about eight years old when my dad asked my mom about a story on the nightly news. This would have been in the mid-60s.
He said, “Did you hear about that man in New York City that got beat up and robbed in broad daylight and no one helped him? They just watched and walked by.”
That story was then in all the big magazines of the day; Life, Time, Newsweek, etc. People could not believe no one had the courage to help this man.
Back then, it seemed, people acted more courageously. Now, it seems, acts of cowardice are easier to find than acts of courage.
As a guy who speaks and writes about fear and courage my antenna are up all the time for stories around these topics. Two of them were front and center for me last week.
The first is the story of the little league baseball team in Chicago that was stripped of their US title for using ineligible players.
An independent investigation showed the adults falsified boundaries and worked with other Little League districts to create an all-star team.
You might be asking yourself, “Where is the courage in this story?”
The answer is there doesn’t appear to be any. Wasn’t there a single adult in this whole situation who stood up and said, “This is wrong?” Wasn’t there an adult who said, “What are we teaching our kids? “
When cowardice wins out those paying a cost are usually the innocent ones. These boys are now looked on as complicit in a scam that was perpetrated by adults. They had no say in the matter but are footing the bill for a bunch of spineless “adults.”
The second story is from a management advice column in a business journal.
An employee has been asked by his or her boss to inflate the performance scores of his or her direct reports.
Again, fear or courage are not directly mentioned in the article but they are the key issues.
In the article the person states, “I know he’s my boss and what he says goes.”
It takes courage to stand up to your boss in any position at any level at any company.
Once again, though, the people paying the cost if the employee goes along with his/her boss are the innocent ones.
The direct reports of the employee asking the question won’t really grow in their positions if they are given false feedback and told they are doing better than they really are.
The company won’t grow and develop as well, or at all, if everyone is thinking they are doing a great job when they have opportunities for improvement.
If this lack of courage is a part of the corporate culture I would bet the company won’t be around long or will be a revolving door of turnover, missed opportunity, and backstabbers getting what they can before heading for the hills.
Courage comes with a price. Cowardice comes with a cost that is often paid for by the innocent.
Do you recognize the opportunities to be courageous in your everyday life?
Are you aware of who is paying a cost when you are cowardly?
In what way do you need to be courageous this week?
Daniel 6
Have a STRONG and COURAGEOUS day!
It is sad to see so many examples like the two you shared in this blog. Thanks for the challenge to be a leader and “do the right thing” and then talk about it so others can see the intention and understand it’s importance. And most importantly, know they have a choice in the matter.
Nancy, I will be looking for positive examples of courage to share as well as these from the dark side of courage. Sometimes I find looking at things from this viewpoint make me more conscious of the cost others pay and the importance of being courageous when we have the choice. Often, when I read a story of someone acting courageously I think about what a nice story it was and I’m glad they did it but it doesn’t have the impact for me. I hope that makes sense! Thanks for your input, Nancy!
Dave Cornell
I always saw it as this being an issue of tolerance too. Our culture seems to put down those that speak up with words like, “intolerant”, “bigoted” or “small-minded”. When really that person is just standing up for what they believe is right, just and good. To be tolerant use to mean that you understand someone’s opinion but you disagree with them and are still loving towards them. I guess then for me to be courageous, is to disagree in love, even if it means being called “intolerant”.
Thanks for writing this. You made me think!
Wes, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. The ideas you bring up are ones that I hadn’t thought about as I wrote the post but have great validity! Thank you for helping me see things that I wasn’t aware of even in my own writing! I wholeheartedly agree with everything you say!
Dave Cornell
The only courage in the little league story came from the committee who had to strip the kids of their title to protect the integrity of their league knowing the backlash they would receive. Can you imagine how difficult that must have been for them? Disappointing for the kids who had no idea what was going on.
Great point, Brian. It does take courage to do the right thing even when innocent people pay the price. I try to put myself in the shoes of the committee and realize what a difficult spot that would be! Thanks for reading and commenting!
Dave Cornell