Celebrate Bravery

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it." – Nelson Mandela

Each year, the French celebrate the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, a major event in the French Revolution. Americans celebrate Independence Day, the day on which the colonies’ separation from Great Britain was made official. On these days, what we are really celebrating is the bravery of those who stood up for their values and fought for the right to control their destiny.
 
Bravery is so remarkable because humans are hard-wired to be frightened of speaking up, standing out, doing things differently. On the savannah, straying from the herd opens you to attack. But meaningful change – revolutions, innovations, career transitions, and other life-changing choices – involve doing just that. Meaningful change requires the bravery to zig when others zag, to reject existing norms and authority, and to see and do what others don’t or can’t. Sometimes just being yourself is an act of bravery.
 
Fear of Flying
 
I recently found myself seated at an event between a woman who wrote screenplays and another who did stand-up comedy. It turned out they both held MBAs from prestigious institutions, had extensive experience as business leaders in finance, and currently ran successful independent consulting practices. A dozen others at the table had similar stories. These were accomplished, impressive, interesting women. 
 
Yet our conversation revolved mostly around our fears - that we were too scattered, that our stories weren't buttoned up enough, that we lacked gravitas or might be viewed as dilettantes. We were flying, but we were worried we should be climbing instead.
 
The Great Reassessment
 
One of the silver linings of Covid has been that a lot of people have looked up from their ladder-climbing and said, that’s it, I’m getting off this thing. People are fundamentally reassessing what they want to do and how they want to work. That may be bad news for employers, but it's good news for you. It's a seller's market. Smart, talented people are in demand, and that gives you unprecedented power to choose what you do, and when, where, and how you do it.
 
Home of the Brave
 
If you are a person who’s guided by your curiosity, a person who has many facets of life that you want to explore or ideas that color outside the lines, you’re likely to find yourself charting your own course. The traditional way of looking at a career as a ladder to climb no longer serves – and may be downright disheartening. The traditional way of running a business needs to be reinvented to open up pathways for innovation and growth. 
 
Charting your own course – whether as an entrepreneur, an innovator, or a revolutionary – requires bravery. Today I am celebrating all the brave ones who’ve dared to push boundaries, take risks, and shake things up. 
 
Be brave. Be you. Happy Bastille Day!