POWER OF COURAGE: Chapt.1

INTRODUCTION

Courage is the quality of being ready and willing to face negative situations involving danger or pain. Fear and overconfidence are generally viewed as undesirable emotions. They make us feel bad, either at the time or afterward. Fear, like many emotions, is closely linked to survival.We are afraid of things that threaten our survival, and our reaction is governed by an adrenaline response (which usually means that we are driven to 'fight' or 'flight'). The physical effects of adrenaline include cold, clammy skin, as the blood is withdrawn to the vital organs to enable you to run away fast, the sensation of 'butterflies' in the stomach, shivering or trembling, and even chattering teeth. Courage is a highly prized virtue, and many famous and respected people have spoken or written about it over the years. We probably all have an idea of what we mean by courage, or bravery as it is sometimes known as the power or quality of dealing with or facing danger, fear, pain.A close synonym is bravery. Showing courage is often thought of as facing such a situation, it also involves facing them despite fear. In other words, someone whose situation might not be2fearless, but they face the dangerous, difficult, or frightening situation anyway.The adjective courageous means having, showing, or done with courage. It can be used to describe people who have the courage or the actions of such people when they face negative situations resolutely. A close synonym is brave. Example: We should all show our appreciation for the courage of our first responders, who face danger every day but still, somehow, decide to show up and put the wellbeing of other people before their own safety.

CHAPTER ONE

MEANING OF COURAGE

The first records of the word coe come from the 1200s. It comes from the Old French corage, from cuer, meaning "heart" (this ultimately derives from the Latin cor, meaning "heart").The heart is traditionally depicted as the centre of human emotion, and the word heart is commonly used in a figurative way to refer to courage or bravery—someone who has courage is said to have a lot of heart. Being courageous means that even when a situation is dangerous or scary—when it makes your heart start beating very fast—you're still willing to face it. But courage doesn't always involve facing danger. Something as simple as telling the truth when it will result in negative consequences can be courageous. Clinical research into the treatment of anxiety disorders, supplemented by studies and experiments on military samples, has led to a fresh construal of the concepts of fear, fearlessness and courage. It is suggested that fear is not a 'lump' but rather a set of three loosely connected components— behavioural, physiological, and subjective. Persistence in dealing with a dangerous situation despite subjective and physiological signs of fear is interpreted. Persistence in the absence of subjective and physiological signs of fear is interpreted as fearlessness. The successful practice of courageous behaviour leads to a reduction in subjective fear and ultimately to a state of fearlessness. There is a small group of people who are particularly well suited to the performance of dangerous tasks by their relative fearlessness, but acts of courage are not confined to this select group. People are far more resilient than our theories have implied, and all people are capable of courageous acts in certain circumstances, including the most fearful of us.Courage is the willingness to confront unpleasant emotions like anger, danger, pain, uncertainty, etc. Like anyone, you might mistake courage for 'lack of fear'. However, courage means taking risks and facing threats despite fear. One of the best ways to be courageous is to understand what you're afraid of and then refuse to allow that fear to paralyze you. Because if you let it, fear has the power to stop you from moving forward, taking risks, and making the most of opportunities. Courage is one of those virtues which has much more pros than cons. Courageous people5become faces of leadership and inspiration to others. They stand up for themselves and others in need and inspire others to do so. Courage has been linked to important workplace outcomes, but little is known about the antecedents of courage. To identify possible methods to develop a more courageous workforce, the current book provides initial evidence regarding the antecedents of behavioural social courage from five broad categories: personality, job characteristics, leadership, culture, and demographic characteristics. Three exploratory studies show that certain antecedents from these categories have a significant relationship with behavioural social courage, including grit, proactive personality (personality), social support (job characteristics), empowering leadership (leadership), power distance (culture), and age (demographics). Perceived courage benefits and risks did not mediate the effect of most antecedents on behavioural social courage. These results suggest that certain antecedents may influence behavioural social courage, but the mediators of these relationships remain unknown. Further Courage is a universally admired virtue, and courageous individuals in all cultures have survived across time to become the heroes of subsequent generations. But what is courage, and what is it not? Six Philosophers have pondered these questions since antiquity. But psychologists, who had a significantly later start, have focused more on fear than on courage. The book reflects this imbalance and contributes to the lack of consensus on a simple definition.