In which ways was your courage contagious in your work place this year?
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In which ways was your courage contagious in your work place this year?
I believe that most emotions are contagious. Laughter is contagious. Fear is contagious. Excitement is contagious. Curiosity is contagious… Courage is contagious.
I love this quote by Billy Graham: “Courage is contagious. When one man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.“
How about your courage? Were you able to help your colleagues to “stiffen their spines“ and mobilise their courage by acting courageously this year?
Unfortunately most people feeling trapped by their own challenges at work are often focussed on themselves and neglect to recognise the effects their actions can have on their work environment and colleagues. It's simple: By acting fearfully they spread fear, uncertainty and doubt, but by acting courageously they spread courage, energy and drive.
Let’s take a step back and look at the qualities of courage as a whole: Courage is a kind of supreme discipline among values. Courage is a choice and is available to all of us in our personal and professional lives. A choice that helps us to face our fears and act despite them. A choice that leads to decisions and actions which are otherwise unattainable in the comfort zone of everyday life. Courage paves the way to more self-efficacy, success and satisfaction. It opens closed doors, turns the impossible into the possible and creates new perspectives.
So whenever you use your courage muscles you bring movement and flow not only into your own world, but also into the world of those around you. Your courage in fact infects others even if it may not be obvious or people might not openly talk about it.
Courage is also an amazing emotion. As Richard Boyatzis, the Greek American organisational theorist and expert in the field of emotional intelligence, behaviour change, and competence says: “Our human brains are hard-wired to pick up on other people’s emotions unconsciously. We are infecting people around us all the time and they are infecting us.”
I also see courage as a kind of ‘positive emotional attractor’. It pulls you towards positivity, possibilities, strengths, experimentation, creativity, motion and more. If you act courageously, then you also encourage and motivate people around you, so they can also act courageously and move forward as well.
The year is soon coming to an end and now is a good time to take a step back and to reflect on the accomplishments of the year. It is also a good opportunity to reflect on your courage too by simply considering the following points:
In which ways did you use your courage to shape your year?
Which were your most courageous accomplishments and what did you gain?
Which accomplishments did you miss out on as a result of not using your courage muscles and why?
In which ways was your courage contagious for people around you? How did you notice this and how did you feel about it?
This very simple reflection will certainly help you to make it an even more courageous 2023, not only for yourself, but also for those around you!
Please let me know in which ways your courage was contagious in your work place this year. I would love to know: Contact me