Courage In Authentic Leadership

Courage, as discussed in Rollo May’s, Courage to Create, is an art that needs mastering and practicing in life. In comparison to Sartre’s work ‘Mauvaise Fois’, translated as, ‘Bad Faith’, where courage and bad faith do not mix in a single inner self. Rollo May agrees with influential philosophers such as Nietzsche and Sartre that courage is the belief and energy that makes an individual proceed on amid despair (May, 1975). This energy enables individuals to overcome the anxiety that would prevent one from participating in shaping and transforming the society.

This courage enables us to preserve the sensitivity we have in life. However, it is true that courage is not a rush. We ought to express ideas in cautiousness and care. The paradox of courage lies in the fact that we can be wrong but still arguing out ideas strongly. If we truly believe in some ideas, then it is totally right to argue them out though we might be wrong (May, 1975).

Rollo May’s ideas perfectly match to Sartre’s piece of ‘Bad Faith’. While, in agreement with the two, I believe that ‘Bad Faith’, as expressed by Sartre is as deadly as lack of courage. ‘Bad Faith’ is a state where individuals turn to false values and disown freedom (Rank, 1996). These individuals deceive themselves to the extent of believing that they are what they are not, or the wrong things that they are doing are correct. The best way out to show this concept is an example.

Take for example bright students who believe that they are dumps, but just by a lucky chance they pass exams every time. This makes the students dumps in reality. We do not have to evade what we are, but we should enjoy the reality. This entails self-awareness and understanding (Rank, 1996). As an authentic leader, both courage and self-awareness are vital in ensuring the success of one’s reign. The leader needs both the moral and social courage in leading.

Moral courage gives to the leader the energy to dismiss inhumane acts as social courage gives him the energy to relate with people and invest in viable relationships. Absence of bad faith in such a leader will make him understand his strong and weak points. All these are relevant and useful in authentic leadership.