What's in a Name?

Greetings! Welcome to my blog, and thank you for visiting. I have a long list of topics I plan to write about here, and I plan to post at least once a week. I'll be writing about all things leadership: leadership types, skills, best practices, worst practices, emotional intelligence, communication, and a whole slew of other themes. I truly believe that leadership isn't connected to a role or title, but to the actions and behaviors you exhibit every day, and I plan to share what I've learned with you.

Today, though, as an introduction, it's all about the name of my coaching practice.

So. Why Couragecopia?

It's simple: I want to honor the courage in each of us that allows us to get up, get out there, and face the world each day. We all have that courage, but we don't always use it well. My goal is to help us all tap into that courage a little bit more, to the benefit of our personal lives, professional lives, and society as a whole.

Here's the thing: when you reflect on some of the worst decisions you've witnessed, either at work or outside of it, what do you think motivated those bad decisions? What made the person making that decision think, "Yeah, this is what I'll choose," when it was so obviously wrong? I bet I know where it came from.

Fear.

Yep. It's with us all. Every single one of us lives with fear each day: fear for our children; fear for our safety and security; fear in regards to our social standing; fear of being alone or unloved. Fear can be good -- it can make us think twice about stepping out in front of that car or jumping off that cliff into unknown waters. But fear can also cause us to make really dumb, and even mean, choices.

Allow me a tangent: my son is an enthusiastic Star Wars fan. I saw the original trilogy as a kid and thought the movies were great, but I didn't connect with them then. Through my son's interest, however, I've revisited all of the movies multiple times, and I honestly don't know if a line in any movie has ever been so relevant to me, especially in these times, as this one:

It's so simple. And so true. Fear is what makes people discriminate against others without knowing them. Fear is what causes bosses to play games with their best employees instead of empowering them. Fear is what makes teammates destroy trust by throwing each other under the bus. Fear, and an astonishingly stubborn zero-sum-game mentality (which I will write about another time!), are what have caused our society so much suffering over generations.

Fear tears us apart.

I want to help pull us back together.

I want to help leaders make decisions from a place of confidence, compassion, and courage. I want to prove to us all that it doesn't have to be this way. And I'm going to help as many people as possible find their cornucopia of courage, so we can all move forward more fulfilled, more inclusive, and more engaged in our lives.

Thanks for stopping by! Please comment and let me know what you think of this post -- and if there are any topics you'd like me to write about here!

-Lisa