Four pages Film analysis paper

Courage and Leadership: an introduction

For high-functioning leaders, courage is essentially about their struggle with the tension between acting in accordance with their beliefs of appropriate values and action in the face of their thoughts and feelings of apprehension and doubt. Courage in leadership is knowing what's right and acting on it. High-functioning leaders often rely on courage to guide and inspire their team to act in appropriate and productive fashion, while working with team members who have a variety of personalities, backgrounds and experiences. And, each of these team members will want leaders to make decisions assertively and wisely, while meeting each of their expectations and needs.

Some helpful definitions

Advocate: One that supports or promotes the interests of another.

Assertive: To positively and genuinely express one’s thoughts, feelings, sensation, urges, and behaviors. Assertiveness is especially important as regards the seeking and fulfilling of one’s needs and desires.

Congruent: The state or quality of being in agreement or harmony.

Courage: One’s ability to act appropriately in spite of fear and anxiety and his or her belief that it’s difficult or dangerous. Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear or difficulty. Courage in leadership is knowing what's right and acting on it. Courage is not the absence of fear –– but acting in spite of it.

Denial: Refusal to accept the truth, reality or validity of something. Minimizing, distorting, ignoring, or avoiding a situation or idea. An illusional or delusional belief system.

Empower: Inspire self or another to be self-directed toward positive, healthful and productive action. A significant characteristic of a high functioning team.

Feedback: the return of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original source. The information so transmitted.

High-functioning: In a workplace, an employee or group of employees that exceed expectations of average performance.

Introspection: A reflective looking inward. An examination of one's own thoughts, feelings, and past experiences.

Leadership: The process of guiding and inspiring team members with authority or influence. The person responsible for a team’s acting in accordance with the workplace mission, vision, goals, values, ethics, and policies and procedures.

Personality: One’s personal identity. Indicative of one’s self. The unique product of one’s dynamic, psychophysical, organized and determined expression of one’s self. Habitual patterns and qualities of one’s thoughts, feelings, sensations, urges and behaviors. It’s formed through one’s past experiences, and expressed in the moment by: 1. What one screens in and screens out from contemporary reality (what one sees and doesn’t see.) 2. How one interprets these seeings. 3. How one acts on the interpretations.

Self-awareness: An awareness of one's own personality or individuality. Conscious knowledge of one's own character, thoughts feelings, sensations, urges and behaviors.

The foundations of courage and leadership originate from self-awareness. Both traits can be learned, and high-functioning leadership will emerge when a potential leader makes an honest and sincere self-examination, followed by dedication to develop the traits of quality leadership. A successful leader is typically a self-aware person with fully congruent values and actions, which will empower the leader to face difficult situations and lead his or her team through the necessary actions and accept responsibility for the outcomes.

Leadership courage can be viewed and demonstrated from several aspects

The courage of introspection

To discover areas of denial.

To see one’s self as others do.

To explore personal change.

The courage to face personal fears and limits

Practice courage via assertive approach to become courageous.

The courage to advocate for self

Recognize and accept personal value, skills and talents.

The courage to seek feedback related to self

To challenge self-denial.

To explore opportunities for growth.

The courage to accept criticism

To listen openly and respectfully.

The courage to accept praise

With dignity and humility.

The courage of decision

Critical thinking combined with ethics, values and anticipated outcomes.

The courage of initiative

Acting on beliefs.

Making first attempts and leading the related actions.

Taking risks with potential large rewards or major setbacks.

The courage to change

To explore innovation, novelty and creativity.

To explore and integrate new technology.

The courage to trust others

Letting go of the need to control situations or outcomes.

Being open to other ideas and experiences.

The courage of voice

Confronting difficult issues.

Providing honest and sincere guidance and feedback.

Delivering information team members will not like.

To advocate for team members.

The courage to recognize others

To share credit for member and team successes.

The courage to share with the team

Leadership, authority and responsibilities.

The courage to say “yes” or “no”

“Yes” when you need help.

“No” when people ask too much of you.

The courage of responsibility

To take responsibility for the functioning of the team.

To hold the team accountable.

To take responsibility for the outcomes.

To accept success with humility and grace.

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