“Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.” – Leo Rosten

Safety is enticing.  It’s been that way for ten thousand years.  When our ancestors were living in caves, the entire goal was safety.  If you had something to eat, and a cave, and a fire, you had it made.  Why go outside where the lions are when you can be safe?

We still act that way, even though most of us don’t have any actual lions prowling around our neighborhood.  We have enough to survive, and then we hunker down and hope nothing terrible happens.  It’s just how we’re wired.

The problem is that life happens outside the cave.  As leaders, we can’t just try and exist on survival rations because it’s safe.  We need to get out there and do stuff.  And “out there” is not always safe.

We might say the wrong thing.  We might upset someone.  We might make a mistake that costs us money (or pride).  We might choose a path that leads somewhere we don’t want to go and then we might not be sure how to go somewhere else.

But we have to leave the cave anyway.  No organization was ever successful by hiding.  We can’t accomplish the things we want by crouching in fear and hoping the scary things don’t notice us. 

Think about yourself as a leader.  What are you afraid of?  What exactly is keeping you in your cave?  We have to be honest about those things and recognize them before we can do anything about them.

Your success as a leader will largely be determined by your ability to overcome the fears we face on a daily basis.  You can’t overcome those fears by hiding from them.  Get out of your cave and meet them face to face.