COURAGE OF CONVICTION

“Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, for they already know what you truly want to become."

These memorable words of advice were given by Steve Jobs, one of the greatest and most successful entrepreneurs and innovators the world will ever see. It was contained in a short commencement address he delivered to the graduating class of 2005 at Stanford University, six years before his untimely death in 2011. Later in the speech he added the following observation:

“I have immense respect for those who took that leap of faith only to find their idea not to work out. They followed their heart and chose to go down a path that only a few are willing to embrace.”              

These statements taken together, exquisitely demonstrate the essential qualities of mind and spirit needed to produce in someone, the courage of conviction needed to bravely face, without fear or recrimination, their difficulties, disappointments, failures, criticisms and disbelief.

      To have the courage of one’s conviction is to act in accordance with one’s belief and to follow one’s heart to do what needs to be done to achieve one’s dreams. And to do all this, while facing the possibility of failing or of objections from those who choose to criticize or prefer to resist change of any kind. The possession of this quality is the greatest attribute of every successful leader, irrespective of whether it takes place in the political, industrial, educational, social or personal setting. The expression of this courage in the pursuit of a dream is the single, most constant characteristic required by anyone intent on achieving the heights of greatness and of personal satisfaction. 

History overflows with examples of people who have lived and died for their beliefs and whose actions have resulted in changing the   world. In every case they began with a belief and a dream, and a determination to carry it out to completion, at all cost. They come from every era and every generation and the results they achieve have served to change the world and its thinking positively; -and in some cases, negatively.

Philosophers as far back as recorded history have been trying to accurately define the concept of the courage needed to carry through with a conviction. The ancient Chinese equated courage with love and the urge to do good. The Romans viewed it as a cardinal virtue equivalent to justice, prudence and fortitude. The ancient Greeks preferred to think of courage as perseverance of a belief, while in the Medieval times, influenced by the rise of Christianity, courage was considered to be one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Whatever the definition, the constant thread in all is that Courage is the primary virtue, without which none of the other virtues could function successfully.

Most people are content to define Courage as an action that recognizes the risks and defies fear, but to me this is incomplete.  Leaders who display this type of courage also stand apart as innovators and original thinkers. They are not content to accept the prevailing attitudes and are determined to change the existing conditions. It is this special, intangible quality within the individual that makes the difference, and provides the impetus that converts an idea or a belief into a reality. It is a deep-seated desire to improve the quality of life or change an existing condition that comes from within the person. It can not be copied or learnt, nor can it be passed on from one to another.

Society, like nature itself, prefers the security of the status quo and resists change of any kind. In general, people are conditioned to prefer this way of life and to conform to it, if only to avoid the uncertainties of change. When St. Teresa of Kolkota rejected the greedy and self-centered societal attitudes that exist even today in India, which results in millions of the poor and destitute people being consigned to a miserable life of neglect and starvation on the streets of the cities, she was in fact acting out of the courage a conviction of Christian love for others. She expressed this most effectively when she said:

Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not sharing.  Jesus made it very clear. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.  Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little child, you receive me.”  

She devoted her life in the service of these people and in so doing, succeeded in focusing the attention of the world toward its true responsibility to care for its less fortunate members.

         But demonstrating this type of courage is never easy, nor is it ever free of ridicule and resistance. The reason for this is that by definition, a society in order to survive is committed to maintaining conformity within its boundaries and to observe common rules. Any attempt to change this, to alter any of the existing state, or to move forward in a different direction which may result in changing the status-quo, will be met with questions and distrust. These special people possess some common characteristics that seem to propel them above the noises of objection and help them to achieve their goal. They possessed a conviction that accompanies their desire for change that never weakens, even in the face of impending fear. As Nelson Mandela, the great South African freedom fighter, so effectively described in the following quotation:

“I learnt that courage is not the absence of fear, but triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

- This indeed is the very heart of the Courage of Conviction!

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