Gus Lee on Creating Courage

We've seen the power of courage. We've also been reminded of the dangers of cowardice and apathy.

When an executive shows courage by facing her fears, even her critics are secretly inspired. But when a boss folds to uncertainty, the courage and capability of the organization become as usable as confetti in a tornado.

Courage is a stunning quiality: it is learnable. I, a former poster boy for cowardice, know this. In an inner city ghetto, I accepted fear as my master and made daily sacrifices to it from a quaking heart. Bullies cultivated a taste for my blood. Tiny tots and girls fed up by my crying could pound me. My two exceptionally clever moves of fleeing and blaming others proved unsuccessful. I shouldn't brag, but I was a very entertaining little kid.

I was sent to a YMCA boxing program to save my life. The tank top kept falling off because it required shoulders. In shorts, black socks and scuffed Buster Browns, I looked like a toothpick in a tutu.

My coach recoiled, "Aw, cripe, kid, ya make me wanna cry." Facing a body bag that was bigger than me, I burst into tears. When Coach hit the bell for me to fight, I dove through the ropes, instantly smacking into a wall which acute myopia had failed to detect.

Coach Tony knew that training and practice reverse the habits of fear. It is the one way courage is learned.

"The percentage of mistakes in quick decisions is no greater than in long-drawn-out vacillation, and the effect of decisiveness itself 'makes things go' and creates confidence." ~ Anne O'Hare McCormick