Courage in spite of failure is key to success

Look at all the great leaders in our society; they all have one thing in common. They all have a history of failures in their past. While this may seem like a contradiction in logic, the leaders of our society are those that possess the courage to risk failure in order to achieve greatness. Show me a person that has never failed, and I will show you a person that has never accomplished anything significant.

So now you ask if courage was so critical for success outside the academic world why is it not taught in college? The answer is simple; courage is what the army would refer to as an implied task.

While it will probably never be listed as a formal learning objective, it is expected that college graduates practice and develop courage during their academic career. In fact, college might be the only opportunity in which adults have the chance to develop this skill without negative impacts to their careers.

As a combat veteran, I have seen remarkable acts of courage on the modern battlefield. This flashy style of courage is often thought of when anyone talks of acts of bravery.

But there is another side of courage that is equally important. The side of subtle courage employed when someone is brave enough to stand out among their peers, subordinates, or leaders and dare to face a problem.

This is displayed by the student who dares to answer the complex question in class when they are not exactly sure of their answer. It is also practiced by the student that dares to ask the question to clarify his/her confusion when the rest of a class sits quietly.

Courage is displayed and developed through facing problems and challenges head on. It is this type of courage it is required to be truly successful in life.

One of the greatest examples I know of the positive impacts of courage development is with Kalee Brewer. This young freshman has challenged herself to attend the National Guard’s  Modern Army Combative Program (MACP) training for a couple semesters. Her small stature has made it difficult to compete against the larger students in the class. Even though she struggled to fight against larger opponents, she was always willing to try even after repeated failure.

After a semester of her fighting and losing, she felt that she could not possibly use the MACP system due to her smaller size. She wasn’t perfect in her first attempts, but she wasn’t intimidated and kept on trying again and again.

I offered to fight against her as if I were an untrained fighter. Needless to say by the huge smile on her face, she finally realized that she was actually an effective fighter. The positive impacts on her confidence have been remarkable. I’m looking for her to accomplish great things in her life due to her willingness to test and develop her personal courage.

Don’t get me wrong—I am not telling everyone to run out and enroll into a martial arts class to improve self-esteem. That is one way to develop courage, but it’s not the only way. I would challenge every student to practice the more subtle side of courage and dare to offer the answers to difficult questions or ask your questions inside the classroom.

True, you might be slightly embarrassed, but in the end it really doesn’t matter. You will better develop the skills to be successful after you graduate.

Think about it. If you were the boss, would you want employees who were afraid to ask questions to clarify assignments or those who would notify you if you were about to make a mistake? Would you want the employee that only did what they knew and did not expand their capabilities? The answers to these questions is “no.”

Develop the courage to be brave enough to risk failure and you will find you have the courage to succeed.