Week Twelve - Leadership and Fear - due Friday May 3rd @ 11:59 pm

YIKES !!!! You have approximately 13 school days left.  Although the end is a good thing, it can also be a little bit scary because your high school life gives way to a more adult-by yourself-type of living regardless of whether you go to college, enter the armed services, or join the workforce.  You are your own leader starting NOW!!!!!

Leaders are not necessarily fearless, but they have learned how to deal with their fears.  It takes courage to live his/her convictions, persevere, take risks, tell the truth, apologize, and to admit mistakes.  Courage is about pushing through one's fears to live a most authentic life and do what one believes is right (Myers, 209).

Bristol, RI harbor at sunset (photo credit Bent)

Now that you are beginning to work in the field, or wrapping up your projects,  I am sure there is some "fear" about your success or failure, and this is normal.  All good leaders, as the Myers states, "learn to deal with their fears" (2011).

Please answer the following questions as they pertain to leadership and fear.  Make sure that the answers are substantial, and are not just "one sentence wonders".

1. Having to move on to unfamiliar territory and/or new adventures is what allows leaders to stretch and grow.  So, does, (or did),  your project stretch, challenge, and/or  engage you?  Explain

2. Sometimes the greatest act of courage is to follow one's heart and do the right thing, even if it is not popular or does not seem politically correct.  What is your "North Star", that thing that most drives you when you have to make a hard decision? Do you give yourself permission to make hard decisions without necessarily having it all figured out?  Are you willing to step into ambiguity when the occasion calls for it?  (Once you summon the courage to take this step, it often opens up wonderful new possibilities that otherwise might have remained closed or hidden.)  Share your answer, thoughts, and examples.

3. Are you willing to risk being wrong?  Sometimes leadership takes having the courage to make hard decisions based on the best information you have, knowing that you could be wrong.  Do you have an example of this? (Share)

4.  Do you give yourself credit for those tough decisions that nobody else sees? Explain.