Go on, jump, jump! C’mon, everyone else is doing it! JUMP!!! They yell at her standing on the precipice of the cliff staring at the waters below. Something in her warns, You shouldn’t jump. You should not jump. This is not the right choice for you.
So she steps back despite their heckling and jeers. Chicken, they charge.
But sometimes bravery is not jumping.
Sometimes bravery looks like saying no.
Sometimes bravery means stepping out of the throngs pressing you into a choice and saying, This isn’t for me. I’m not scared. I’m wise.
There’s a difference. Risk taking can be just as much standing up against the tidal wave of pressure and stopping the momentum. In fact, that is often the face of brave. Challenging gravity. The tide. The force of public opinion. Accepting the possibility of anger or ridicule or alienation.
I’ve written a lot about risk when it comes to leadership. But we don’t always talk about what the risk looks like. In fact, one of my favorite quotes likens risks to jumping off a ski slope. What if risk was turning around when the slope was beyond you? What if you could endanger those coming up behind you by foolishly launching off a slope that wasn’t skiable?
Won’t you join me over at God-sized Dreams today for the rest of the story?