The Challenge
At the age of 40, I had mustered up the courage to apply to law school. When I received the acceptance letter, my emotions started to run all over the place. I had no intention of practicing law but I wanted to challenge myself in one of the toughest arenas around. I knew there were be less stressful, less expensive ways to challenge myself but this was the one I chose.
When I prepared to become a fulltime student, my doubts and fears became unimportant – all because of a song. The song was – “I Believe I Can Fly” As the words poured out “I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky” I started crying like a newborn. At that moment, my self-doubt disappeared because I truly believed.
The Power of Belief
As managers, finding courage means we must believe that we can fly. I suggest that it becomes part of our job description and that it apply to not only managers, but to anyone who is facing a challenge. If we believe that we can overcome obstacles, we take the first step to solving the problem. That first step is crucial because that is where we begin to figure out the how. This is where we develop our vision, sharpen skills and test theories. We cannot be afraid of failure because it gets us closer to the answer and we begin to see results. In July, I wrote about three different types of managerial courage: the courage to fail, interpersonal courage and moral courage (click here to read).There is another type of courage equally if not more important than the first three – intrapersonal courage.
Finding Courage
Intrapersonal courage dictates self-talk which in turn becomes the basis for everything we do. Anyone can memorize and recite company mission statements but if we don’t truly believe that we affect the mission – our success will be superficial at best. To be truly successful, we must inspire others to believe in the mission. When we do it shows up in everything we do and everything we say. It becomes contagious. It encourages and motivates others. They begin to welcome challenges and refuse to accept the status quo. There is a fundamental belief that there is a solution and folks will keep trying until the best answer presents itself. This is when greatness happens because it creates a synergy that cannot be stopped. But the first step is to believe.