5 Ideas to Turn Adversity Into a Leadership Performance Adventure (Leadership Courage)

5 Ideas to Turn Adversity Into a Leadership Performance Adventure (Leadership Courage)

As an experienced leader, you’ve successfully climbed many leadership performance mountains before. Some were higher than others. Some were extremely frustrating. Maybe you needed special skills or additional resources. No matter the obstacles, you achieved success.

And, today seems different. Why is that?

For many, the Era of Exponential Progress in the field of AI and other technologies creates fear. To make matters worse, we see soaring fuel and food prices. The Cancel Culture unleashes an unrelenting attack on our values and virtues. We worry about the future of our children and grandchildren.

WHY WE NEED TO CULTIVATE COURAGE

Despite the comforts and conveniences that buffer us, our daily lives are still fraught with insecurity. We may not even be aware of the degree to which our actions are ruled by fear ~ fear of losing our jobs, of being judged by others, of harm that might befall us or our loved ones.

The fears can be paralyzing, keeping us from growing in experience and wisdom. They can also be corrosive. When we take the easy way out, rather than facing the challenge of making the tough choice, we only become weaker. This is true of societies as well as individuals.

Even if we are never called upon to brave a tsunami or rescue someone from a burning building, we all encounter situations that demand courage.

Being a single parent, dealing with serious illness, and telling difficult truths ~ all of us face these kinds of tests sooner or later. The more we learn to draw and rely upon our inner strength, the more our courage grows.

Some of the leaders I talk to, tell me that they’re struggling to focus, and others have sleepless nights. We see a rise in anxiety and depression.

LEADERSHIP PERFORMANCE COURAGE GROWS FROM

• Acknowledging fear and confronting it head-on
• Accepting risk, change, and failure as part of life
• Persevering despite the odds
• Standing up for what we believe
• Enduring hardship and adversity without complaint
• Being willing to make the tough choices
• Living life, we want

I realized that I needed to do something to make a positive difference.

My call to action…

I wrote The Sisu Courage Series

A visit from our daughter, Danae, provided an unexpected, but delightful angle to this project. On a break from her work in Tanzania, she shares her once-in-a-lifetime adventure of climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. As Danae’s story unfold, I quickly realized that the leadership lessons she had learned on this expedition, were a powerful metaphor of the leadership mountains we face in our culture.

In this series, we look at the strategies you can harness to lead with Courageous Character, Confidence, and Connection.

I invite you to use the links below so that you can conveniently access all the articles in The Sisu Courage Series below.

You’ll learn how to:

• • convert fear into forward motion;
  • create a hopeful vision for the future; and,
  • turn adversity into a leadership performance adventure.

This article was published in my May Newsletter. You can get a copy HERE.

It’s time to climb your leadership Kilimanjaro! I trust you enjoy this series of articles.

• Leadership Strategy Insights From Courageously Taking On Mount Kilimanjaro
• A Courageous Character Keeps Your Leadership Development Journey on Track
• Gratitude Builds Courage to Confidently Turn Scary Times into Leadership Development Adventures
• How to Courageously Connect to Improve Your Leadership Performance
• How Courage Enables You to Reach the Top of Every Leadership Development Mountain