The Narrow Road of Courage

Few Will Find The Path of Courage

I had been teaching for 20 years prior to developing and speaking on the principles of courageous leadership and each day, my decisions revolved around what I could do to grab so called “success.” Everything hinged on looking the part, saying the right things, and making sure that my words matched my audience.

It worked.

Without any marketing, sales, or even a website, every year got busier than the year before. Don’t get me wrong. I was blessed to have so many opportunities and I was providing much needed training across the country but if I’m honest, I wasn’t always being honest…or courageous.

Finding Purpose

A decade ago, God showed me the root of leadership failure was a lack of courage. I was never promised 100 seminars a year or that big publishing deal. In fact, much of what I have experienced since launching the seminar and writing a book has been the opposite of what most would consider success.

I’ve been cancelled from speaking engagements, mocked within my own agency and attacked by some of the largest media outlets in the world.

As it turns out, courage has a price and few will ever choose to pay that price.

I don’t say this with a righteous, “look at me” attitude. Frankly, if I had known about the pain and suffering that was to come, I probably wouldn’t have done it.

I am no different than those that embrace cowardice in leadership.

I have simply made the decision to choose courage.

It is a decision that anyone can make and it is a decision that will truly set you on a path of legacy.

The rejection would have devastated me in those first 20 years of teaching because I was on the path of “me, myself, and I.” My ego was bigger than my heart. I placed more emphasis on what others thought than my true purpose.

You can only move forward with courageous leadership if you embrace a selfless sacrifice and ignore what the world tells you about success.

Consider the following action steps on your road to courageous leadership:

Embrace Discomfort

We are hardwired for comfort but mediocrity reigns when we avoid pain and discomfort. Without suffering there is no growth and our discipline must accept the adversity that comes with discomfort. Apolo Ohno became the most decorated Winter Olympian in U.S. history. In preparation for the Olympics, he spent up to 12 hours a day training. In answering how became so successful, he simply said “I’m willing to do what nobody else is willing to do.”

The greatest leaders in history understood the importance of suffering and sacrifice. Whether it was Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa or Abraham Lincoln, the common denominator to their journey of greatness was their adversity to discomfort.

You are no different. Leadership is leadership and greatness is always preceded with tough times. Embrace it and thrive.

Ignore Reputation

Cowards thrive on reputation. They see it as success when in reality, you don’t even control it. A priority on reputation is a recipe for compromise. You can look through history and see the worst of us when the masses placed more emphasis on reputation than character.

Winston Churchill stood mostly alone on the world stage as he warned about the rise of Nazi Germany. Few were on the side of William Tyndale when he translated the Bible away from Latin and who could forget just a few years ago when leaders in law enforcement bent the knee to the lie of systematic racism.

Fear is a powerful motivator for cowardice but fearing an attack on reputation is a faulty premise based on the idea that you somehow control it. What you do control is who you are and what your character is. Courageous Leaders understand this and they lead with this and this alone.

Re-Imagine Your Goals

Courageous Leaders understand that worldly goals will impact leadership in a negative way. Traditional goals are external and often times out of your control. You can want that promotion or new assignment but you don’t explicitly control the outcome. We set these worldly goals based on our feelings and our ego and we often see leaders step over others to get there.

Your goals should be completely in your control and those goals may reach those worldly goals but there is no guarantee.

Forget Status Quo

Nothing great is born out of the way we’ve always done it and great leaders are never content with status quo—they challenge it, reshape it, and push beyond it. Progress is impossible without those who dare to question existing norms, disrupt outdated systems, and reimagine what is possible.

Every major transformation in history has shown us that greatness is preceded by the refusal to accept the norm. Rosa Parks, Steve Jobs, Theodore Roosevelt and many other courageous leaders had the common bond that they refused to accept what others were telling them. We look at their success now and revere them as heroes but at the time they were mocked and scorned by many.

Rejecting the status quo requires critical thinking, adaptability, and resilience. It demands leaders to challenge conventional wisdom, take calculated risks, and stand firm in their convictions even when facing resistance.

Conclusion

There is no easy button for courage and only a few will find it. Everyone reading this has the ability to walk the narrow path of courage but it takes an intentional approach that you don’t often find in traditional leadership thought. To help, keep the following in mind each day:

It’s not about you…It’s about others.

It’s not about the outcome…It’s about the process.

It’s not about gratification…It’s about gratitude.

It’s not about hating those that oppose you…It’s about embracing them and the challenge.

You don’t seek validation…You seek growth.

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that he will make all things right
if I surrender to His will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with Him forever.

—Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971

Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.