26 AMERICANWAY
NOVEMBER 15 2008
B U S I N E S S
Popquiz:
Whatmakes a king out
of a slave, theflag on themast to
wave, and an elephant charge his tusk
in themistymist or the dusky dusk?
That’s right— cah-orage, as theCow-
ardly Lionwould say. And not only is
itwhat puts the “ape” in apricot, it’s
the bold subject of the newbusiness/
management book
CourageGoes
toWork: How toBuildBackbones,
Boost Performance, andGet Results
(Berrett-Koehler, $27). Courage is
essential and nevermore important
than right now, says author Bill Trea-
surer, a courage-building consultant
who, as a former captain of theU.S.
HighDiving teamperformedmore
than 1,500dives from heights that
scaled tomore than 100 feet, really
walks his talk.
Why it’sessential
“When the
economy is down, the need for cour-
age goes up,” Treasurer says. “It’s the
lifeblood of leadership, innovation,
sales, andmany other important busi-
ness concepts.” On balance, workers
who behave courageously aremore
successful than thosewho don’t.
So, how can a little bravery boost
work performance?According to
Treasurer, courageousworkers are
morewilling to step into leadership
roles, share their ideas, and speak up
when things are goingwrong. They’re
morewilling to embrace change
and have themind-set to seek out
skill-stretching challenges. As they
do, their skill sets grow and they add
more value to the company.
Fortitude— threeways
Sorry, nowizard’s going to just give it
to you, but courage is a skill that can
BandofBrothers
The ultimatewarmovie (it’s ac-
tually a 10-part series) depicts
brotherhood, comradeship, and,
of course, courage.
Braveheart
WilliamWallace battles to save
Scotland fromBritish rule—
prettymuch single-handedly.
It’saWonderful Life
Adown-on-his-luck guy sees
what lifewould have been like
had he never existed.
TheShawshank
Redemption
It’s an emotionally draining
prison story that teaches about
hope, determination, dreams,
and, yep, redemption.
WALL-E
The story of a robotwhowon’t
give up on love— savingEarth
andmankind in the process.
—AnnaFialho
NoBackbone?ThenIt’s
HighTimeYouBuiltOne
Guts andGlory: Five
Films toGetYouStarted
be honed anddeveloped. Aswith any
other skill, it’s learned through trial
and error and strengthenedwhen it is
exercised and used. Treasurer’s book
offers detailed advice on building
three specific kinds of (developmen-
tal) courage in aworkforce:
Try courage:
the guts to take initia-
tive and try something new
Trust courage:
the guts to let go and
follow the lead of others
Tell courage:
the guts to speak up
andgo against the grain
Four Steps toBuilding
YourBackbone
Ask
“Where am I playing it too safe
inmy career?”
Identify
the “cost of comfort.” (The
risk of inaction is oftenmore danger-
ous than the risk of action.)
Build
aCourageCommunity by sur-
rounding yourselfwith peoplewho
encourage you andwho seek
coura-
geous challenges themselves.
Do
your “lead-ups”— smaller coura-
geous acts in preparation for a bigger
one (i.e., before you do a 100-foot-
high dive, do 100dives from 10 feet).
By JaneneMascarella
