Since the pandemic, the pace of corporate change and disruption is accelerating. Courage—or the lack of it—will impact careers, organizations, and society at large. In a 2025 Harvard Business Review article titled “Now Is the Time for Courage,” Ranjay Gulati defines courage as “a willingness to take bold, risky action to serve a purpose that you perceive to be worthy, usually in the face of an abiding fear.”
Gulati references the work of Kathleen K. Reardon, who emphasizes that courage is a skill. She has a “courageous calculation” to help people make an “intelligent gamble” based on “careful deliberation and preparation” that includes weighing risks and benefits. It makes sense to do a cost/benefit analysis when taking calculated risks.
To learn more about courage, I interviewed Kelly Byrnes, founder and CEO of Voyage Consulting Group. She defines courage as bravery. “Brené Brown says courage is a love word. She connects courage with love and vulnerability and says courage is the willingness to show up and be seen with your whole heart, which is the ultimate act of love.”
Byrnes advises her clients to go toward the person with whom you have a conflict with or go toward what you are afraid of when you don’t know the outcome. To have courage, she shared how the first thing she does is put her feet on the ground to remind her of her solid foundation. She talked about the significance of her strong values as foundation.
- Of her four core values, the first is love. She wears a little heart pin every day as a reminder to not bring negativity to a meeting, not to gossip about anyone, or not to have road rage.
- Have the courage to step forward and lead when or be a good follower when needed.
- She prefers this word instead of happiness. If happiness is the goal, you may not have courage because you are less likely to take risks when the situation is uncertain. After being brave and having courage, you get to experience the triumph when you come out the other side.
- With so much insecurity and uncertainty, security is on Byrnes’ mind. Without security, it is hard to be strong and lead with confidence.
Courage and Fear
Courage and fear tend to be two sides of the same coin. According to Byrnes, courage is overcoming fear. She said to feel the fear, recognize the fear. Take calculated risks. Listen to your intuition. Don’t let the emotion of fear hold you back. If you’re never afraid, you might be too comfortable and not growing.
Byrnes has an equation to help process decisions to prevent ruminating about the fear. It is hard to have courage if you don’t have confidence in yourself. Clarity gives you confidence. Analysis and thinking it through provide clarity, which gives you certainty and this certainty gives you confidence to have courage.
Developing Courage
Gulati identified in his research five ways that individuals tend to develop courage: They create positive narratives, cultivate confidence, take small steps to boost their comprehension of the challenges they face, make connections, and stay calm. His article describes how leaders demonstrated these five ways of developing courage.
When I asked Byrnes her approach for developing courage, she responded with a question she asks her clients: What can you influence right now? She described an exercise using three circles to visualize areas of influence you can impact. The first circle includes your immediate family and co-workers, how you spend your time. The second circle of involves your neighbors, local community, and faith community. The outside circle are those people and issues where you want to be informed but have less influence, such as politics, volunteer organizations, technology usage, and climate change. The outside circle includes issues that are global in nature and affect more people. Byrnes advises to focus your energy on what you can currently influence, which builds courage.
Byrnes also has clients Identify personal and professional accomplishments that took courage. Echoing the findings of Gulati, reflect on the small wins you’ve had in the past to gain confidence. Remember your triumphs and bring that bravery into your life now.
Leadership is not a title or position. It is a relationship. Most leaders don’t act alone, but they are often in the spotlight. Behind brave leaders are employees working behind the scenes. There is power in numbers. Use your influence and relationships to gain support, feedback, and affirmation. This support helps to build confidence, stay calm, and develop courage.
Based on his research, Gulati is convinced that “bravery is a skill that everyone in business today must learn and teach to others… To make progress on big problems such as climate change, economic inequality, and political polarization, we need to coalesce around a kind of collective courage,” and this starts with each of us developing our own personal courage.
