Are leaders born brave?
Remember last fall when a group of employees proved the power of being brave together. OpenAI’s board dismissed the CEO, Sam Altman, because they said he failed to be consistently candid in his communications with them. Within a few days, more than 95% of OpenAI’s employees signed an open letter to the board, threatening to resign unless Altman was reinstated as CEO. It worked. Altman returned as CEO.
Think about that brave stance. Those AI employees risked their jobs, their careers and their finances to do what they thought was right.
The action by the AI employees helps explode some myths about bravery:
Brave people are born brave
You need to be special to be brave
I’m not brave because my fear of being brave is unique
That’s all baloney. You know it. Every day you see your colleagues, your competitors and sometimes strangers be brave. They have tough conversations, point out problems and offer better approaches. Sometimes they do heroic things like rescue a driver trapped in a burning car. They weren’t born brave. They choose to be brave.
Let’s listen to astronaut Buzz Aldrin. He said: “Bravery comes along as a gradual accumulation of discipline.” He tells us we can build our own bravery – that it takes time and discipline – and that everyone can be brave.
Are you trapped in place by myths about bravery? Or are you ready to put them aside and build your own bravery?
Copyright – BRAVECULTURE LLC – 2024