Leaders Need Courage Now More than Ever

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.

Please check out the full article in Trainingmag.com

Here’s the link to the issue landing page: https://trainingmag.com/issue/january-2026/