Courage: the catalyst for growth

Monday through Friday I wear a lanyard around my neck proclaiming that I, as part of the larger Neste community, care, cooperate and have courage. The first two declarations I instinctively identified with, but the last part left me puzzled – what was courageous about me?

I began digging into how research conceptualized courage and soon discovered a certain classification system developed by Dungate and Armstrong. In it they outlined the characteristics for the different dimensions of courage: physical, spiritual, social, moral, intellectual and emotional. Of these six, the last four turned out to be pivotal in forming my own understanding of the words on my lanyard.

The dimensions of courage

As per the aforementioned model, social courage allows participation in social situations, such as giving a presentation, despite the risk of discomfort. Moral courage, on the other hand, stems from practicing one’s own ethical values publicly, even if they conflict with the established social views. Moreover, intellectual courage involves being intrinsically motivated to keep learning and questioning your own beliefs as well as the status quo. Lastly, emotional courage is the willingness to feel the full spectrum of emotions in order to express them productively. These components often coincide in our everyday interactions and, thus, are imperative for personal and professional development. Determining your dominant type of courage can be helpful, as it strengthens your identity and allows you to adjust your actions to be in better alignment with your goals.

Choosing courage over comfort

While sometimes choosing comfort over courage might be necessary, making the conscious choice to do the opposite is an excellent chance for learning and development. Making the socially, morally, intellectually and/or emotionally courageous choice can help one find fulfilment at work by staying true to themselves and their goals, improving overall work life satisfaction. Exercising emotional and social courage in particular cultivates healthy communication, while refusal to process adverse emotions might lead to resentment and a hostile workplace environment. In addition, the only way to truly deepen your expertise is by having intellectual courage.

Courage is not only important for personal development but it is also essential for a business to fully realise its potential. For a business to thrive, the curiosity and creativity of its employees and their courage to share ideas is crucial. Ideation, innovation and collaboration –  the very pillars of organisational growth – require courage. Without it, it is impossible for a business to keep advancing and improve its working ways. Therefore, organisations too must have the courage to keep fostering an environment in which employees feel safe to generate ideas and raise other important topics of conversation.

Embracing courage

With all this in mind, I realised the reason I had felt motivated, excited and fulfilled by my traineeship was because I had consistently been challenged to make courageous choices. Ultimately, everyone has their own definition for courage. For me, courage is not the absence of discomfort but rather the conscious attempt to overcome it. It is not necessarily a grand gesture, but it can be the invisible driving force behind most of our everyday interactions. Courage requires vulnerability and it is like a muscle that needs training to complement your journey of self-improvement.

Taking a moment to reflect upon your own understanding of courage can act as an incredible insight into your identity and progress, which can facilitate both personal and professional goal-setting. I urge you to lead by example and that way promote courageousness in the workplace. Identify opportunities to practice, and remind yourself that wishing to choose courage over comfort is a step in the right direction already.

About the author

Mila Lakkapää works in the Gasoline, Aviation and Powertrains team as a Summer Trainee specialising in sustainable aviation fuels. She is finishing up her BSc Chemistry degree at the University of Helsinki and is continuing her studies at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Aalto University next autumn. She is fascinated by multidisciplinary approaches to environmental sustainability issues.