A Call to Leadership Courage
Episode #62 of the Third Turn Podcast with Dave Cornell
Fear is something we all face, but rarely talk about.
Today’s guest, Dave Cornell, helps people recognize the role that fear plays in our lives and the opportunity to lead a more courageous life. According to Dave, it’s courage that calls us to take responsibility for our mistakes. Courage invites us to make the difficult decisions that can take our people and our organizations to the next level. Leading courageously allows us to not hold onto the status quo, to not worry about what others might think, or who we might offend. Leading a courageous life allows us to become who we were fully created to be as well as to lead at our very best.
Even Aristotle once said, "Courage is the greatest of all virtues because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others."
So what does fear look like in the context of leadership? Dave reminds us that it’s a factor in very practical, everyday issues and needs like:
- Struggles to hold people accountable
- Temptations to command-and-control
- Reticence to admit and take responsibility for our mistakes...
....and certainly in unique Third Turn leadership challenges like:
- Hanging around too long and not making the leadership handoff
- Stepping into the unknown of life beyond organizational leadership.
(Dave hearkened us back to Episodes 59 and 61 with Donna Schumell and Julaine Smith, who also both touched on the role of fear and courage related to expressing our vulnerability as leaders, and battling imposter syndrome.)
So it’s time to have the self-awareness to admit our fear, reframe our thinking, and operate from a different kind of confidence—especially in context of adaptive change and the natural new, never-seen-before challenges we all face in leadership. It takes a unique kind of courage to lean into the unknown and learn as we go.
Additional Resources:
- Dave is an author, coach, trainer, and speaker to leaders and organizations, helping them recognize and navigate the ways that fear and courage impact us personally and professionally.
- Cultivate Courage – Dave’s website
- Cultivate Courage: Face Fear. Fulfill Dreams – Dave’s book
- Cultivate Courage – Dave’s online course on Teachable
- Dave’s reading and recommends the Stephen Covey book Trust and Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others
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About The Third Turn Podcast & Maestro-level leaders:
With each episode of the Third Turn Podcast, we host a conversation among leaders who want the world to flourish for generations beyond their lifetimes.
Listening with others in some way and enjoying in-depth conversations of your own as you reflect and choose what you would do the same or differently is a plus!
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The Third Turn Podcast is part of the Maestro-level leaders initiative, a production of Design Group International. Strategically Connected's Jennifer Miller is the producer.
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