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COURAGE
Foaming
at the Mouth
By Sandra Ford Walston
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Oct 2011 |
“Charms
for the Easy Life” is a made-for-television movie about
three women (played by Gena Rowlands, Mimi Rogers and Susan May
Pratt) who defy gender roles during World War II. Gena Rowlands
plays the role of a successful and astute holistic doctor without
a medical licence.
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HR
Matters Magazine
Issue 16 | Oct 2011
BRAIN
SCIENCE AT THE OFFICE
It Makes Perfect Sense
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Sandra
Ford Walston, The Courage Expert, innovator of STUCKThinking™,
is an organizational effectiveness/ learning consultant,
speaker,
corporate trainer and courage coach, specialising
in understanding women’s leadership issues,
courage behaviors, individual personalities and leadership
styles that focus on the tricks and traps of the human
condition.
Sandra
is the internationally published author of bestseller
“COURAGE: The Heart and Spirit of Every Woman.”
Her second book is currently agent represented. Sandra
writes for “Chief
Learning Officer” and “Strategic
Finance” magazines, and she posts a monthly
Courage Blog
on her own her own site and for PINK
magazine and successtelevision.com.
Sandra provides skill-based programs for public and
private businesses, including Caterpillar, Inc., Auburn
University, Procter & Gamble, Wyoming Department
of Health Public Nurses, Farmers Insurance, Wide Open
West and Hitachi Consulting. She is a Newfield Network
Coach.
Ms.
Walston is qualified to administer and interpret the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and is certified
as an Enneagram
teacher and she enjoys applying insights from both
systems to her work. With over eleven years of experience
with finance professionals, she instructs for the
University of Denver Graduate Tax Program Continuing
Professional Education courses and she formerly taught
for the Colorado Society of CPAs.
Sign
up for her courage blog.
To learn
more about how Sandra can help your business cultivate
success or to purchase a copy of her book, visit www.sandrawalston.com.
You can also reach Sandra at sandra@sandrawalston.com.
For copies of this article or reprints, please contact
the author.
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If a patient died who was known for lying or deceitfulness, she
would ask her granddaughter to look in the mouth of the deceased
to see if this person had “purged” (“to rid of
impurities, cleanse, purify, to rid, clear or free”). She
explained that if saliva foamed around their mouth, they had purged
everything out before passing. In other words, they had cleansed
and purified themselves of false statements, lies and self-deceptions.
At
the end of the movie, the granddaughter (Susan May Pratt) finds
that her grandmother has passed on during the night. Curious about
the old woman’s practices, the granddaughter immediately checks
her grandmother’s mouth to see if she has purged. She finds
no trace of saliva, indicating that the elderly woman had lived
true to her word—she had no need for the last-minute purging
like people who had lived deceitful lives.
Deceit rears its ugly head at work when you pretend you agree
with your boss. |
What
truths flow out of your heart? Do they include any lingering regrets
or elements of deceit?
Deceit
rears its ugly head at work when you pretend you agree with your
boss. Perhaps you feel that your opinions are devalued or sense
that your principles lead you in a different direction than his/hers.
Even this minimal level of deceit represents a choice not to act
courageously by speaking your convictions and damages your own honesty.
Instead of saying, “I really don’t want to do this,”
or “I don’t agree with this procedure,” you will
probably start thinking about how you do not want to burn bridges.
But any degree of self-deceit will require purging at some point,
and purging commonly takes place after you leave your job and realise
that you “should” have left sooner than later. It takes
a lot of effort to display the authentic Self at work.
Later,
in one of my monthly courage e-zines I used the segment “Foaming
at the Mouth.” I received an e-mail a few weeks later from
Wendy who wrote, “I wanted to write to you telling you how
much I appreciated receiving your newsletter last month—‘Foaming
at the Mouth’. It made such an impact on me. I reread it numerous
times and, in fact, it finally gave me the courage to speak my mind.
I had been having a sore throat and almost laryngitis (imagine that)
for quite a while and I finally told my husband that I was tired
of his using me and draining me financially and emotionally, and
I am tired of living a lie.
My throat ‘miraculously’ cleared up. Now my voice is
strong both physically as well as emotionally. After allowing him
to take advantage of me and my daughter for the last eight years,
I am finally leaving. Not that it is something to be cheered on
or celebrated, I am thankful that I am finally purging myself of
‘false statements, lies and self-deceptions’.”
I
feel blessed that people write and tell me how my work experientially
moved them to claim their courage. Wendy’s blinders to her
courage were removed because she “allowed” courage to
come into her life and have a revelation. A few months later I received
another email from Wendy sharing how she is also pursuing a new
career path that fits her skills and heart’s desire. 
5
Tips for Applying Courage at Work
Courageous
leaders recognise defining moments and apply courage at
work. This conscious action is vital to their success. By
developing the following behaviours in yourself, you’ll
be better able to call upon your courage when needed.
1.
Constantly affirm your strength and determination
Realise that no one expects you to be perfect. They do,
however, expect you to do your best. Take time for daily
reflection so you can evaluate your resources and how you
can best use them. When you know how your strengths can
benefit your organisation, you’ll be able to do what
you believe is right and see any challenge as an opportunity
for professional growth.
2.
Hurdle obstacles and take risks
Every behaviour you exhibit and every action you take is
a conscious choice. Give yourself permission to choose to
be different so you can creatively navigate your way around,
through, or over any obstacles that cross your path. When
you feel fear set in, ask yourself, “What’s
the worst thing that can happen if I do this?” Usually
the worst never occurs, so take the risk.
3.
Manifest vision
There are no shortcuts when it comes to courageous leadership.
Know where you want to go and develop a crystal clear vision
of your goal. Become stubborn about attaining your vision
so you can discard any non-productive judgments others put
on you.
4.
Reflect self-esteem
All your actions reflect who you are and what you stand
for. If you’re repeating a certain behaviour that
you don’t like, look inside and ask, “What do
I need to change?” Sharpen your skills and abilities
through education, reading, and training, and surround yourself
with the kind of people you want to become.
5.
Speak up
If you feel uncomfortable in a situation, believe your intuition
and tell those involved why you believe the situation is
not right. Exercise your courageous voice by challenging
the status quo and making waves when someone is putting
you down or when water-cooler gossip is getting out of hand.
Claim
Your Courage Today
If courage has eluded you in the past, now is the time to
step up and make your daily job performance a profile in
courage—the one that reveals your heart and spirit.
Confront issues even when your own job is at stake. Be vulnerable
to admit a mistake. Reinvent yourself to transcend an old
career and begin a new one. And most important, manifest
a vision and follow it. When you follow a decisive course
of action and do what it takes to advance professionally,
you become a catalyst for profound change and an initiator
who can lead others to the same path. With such courageous
leadership capabilities, professional success is imminent.
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