Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2018 - 37

strengthens our mindset, enables us
to believe in ourselves and effectively
utilize the knowledge and skills we
have acquired. So, what happens when
courage existent?
Courage is knowing what needs to
be done and foraging despite feeling
anxious or afraid. Courage is composed of
two factors: competence and confidence.
Competence comes from knowledge
(knowing what to do). Confidence is
gained from skills (knowing how to do
it by applying the knowledge). Think of
it like this: Attending a live concert and
being able to sing along with every song
is knowledge; and getting up on stage
and playing the guitar is a skill. But if
there is a fear of performing for a crowd,
then a lack of courage to leverage the
knowledge and apply the skill will result
in a lack of performance.
Having a skill (e.g., selling, negotiating,
debating, presenting to a group,
participating collaboratively in a
meeting) is either learned from
experience or from a formal training that
allowed for a solid knowledge transfer to
develop into a skill. However, if someone
cannot use the skill to its potential,
it is squandered. So, what quells the
courage to use skills? A few things have
the potential to do it.

CULTURE OF FEAR
A fearful, unsafe organizational culture
is one of the most common killers of
courage. People can be courageous
outside of work, but a territorial manager
who clearly doesn't want feedback will
cause people to keep their mouths shut.
People ask themselves, "Should I be the
problem-solver and contribute what I
was hired to contribute, or should I keep
my mouth shut so my manager is not
threatened by my experience?"
People don't quit jobs, they quit their
managers. In his article "People Leave
Managers, Not Companies," Victor
Lipman says that challenges arise
when employees are not working as
productively as possible. A fearful

culture will prevent collaboration and
innovative thinking, and that can be
devastating to the overall success of
an organization.

LACK OF
TRANSPARENCY
People often say, "in my honest opinion,"
as if they had been untruthful until
that point, and that verbal graffiti is
being replaced by phrases such as "in
full transparency..." However, is the
team really transparent? The hard part
about transparency is that if you say
you are transparent you really need to
be. Combine this with the fact that in
many cases someone is only using the
transparency concept to be abrasive and
giving it an acceptable name.
True transparency embraces courage
because it requires all to know where they
stand at all times. Transparency requires
people to speak up and contribute
with respect and honesty. Ray Dalio's
"thoughtful disagreement" and "radical
transparency" is proof this approach
works. If the goals of the organization
is the goal of the conversation, people
should not take feedback or contrary
opinions personally, in fact they should
expect them and encourage them.
Transparency is who we are in a perfect
world and it is what we must be if
we are truly going to be collaborative
and innovative.

VISION, MISSION AND
THE GOALS OF THE
ORGANIZATION
It may seem that these would be three
separate items, but in fact, when it
comes to courage, each one of these
leads to the next. Without these three
components in place, it is difficult to
maintain courage and utilize learned
skills. Understanding the vision of the
organization allows employees to feel a
part of something bigger than just their
own contribution. Being aligned with
the mission enables them to understand
how the organization views itself, and

where it is going. Being aligned with
the goals of the organization means
they can understand what their job is
and how it actually contributes to the
bottom line every day.
When these factors are clear, an
ownership attitude is enhanced, the
kind of thinking people have when
they are working from their heart, not
just showing up to put in their time. If
someone sells a product for the sake
of selling, they are simply providing
products. However, if they understand
what that product does or means or
how it helps their customer, they see
a responsibility to provide a required
solution for a customer - it is more than
just a job.

COURAGE IS
COMPOSED OF
TWO FACTORS:
COMPETENCE AND
CONFIDENCE.
Salaries paid to people who are merely
showing up, or to eight people in a
meeting when only two are talking,
or those with creative ideas who fail
to bring them forward are costing
corporations billions of dollars every
year. Bring courage to the table,
nurture it, expect it and foster it within
your teams and organization. It will
yield more fulfilled employees, lower
turnover and increase both top- and
bottom-line results.
Kevin Kopald is an organizational
development professional with Global
Performance Group, a performance
improvement firm with a deep and focused
expertise in developing the dialogue skills
necessary for a higher level of employee
engagement, sales and negotiation skills,
and innovative thinking. Email Kevin.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - LEAD THE CHANGE 20 18 I WWW. T RAININGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/bridgewaters-ray-dalio-the-leadership-strategy-behind-my-success.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2015/08/04/people-leave-managers-not-companies/#cc5399b47a94 https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2015/08/04/people-leave-managers-not-companies/#cc5399b47a94 https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2018