The Courage Of Others

[Brittany Bhadd]

While a bright future beckoned, they freely gave their lives and fondest hopes for us and our allies, that we might learn from them courage in peace to spend our lives making a better world for others."

I do think courage is in short supply these days. For the students here this morning, how many times are you taught about the virtues of courage in college? From my experience over seven years here, Harvard seems more interested in making more and more rules and restrictions every year to dictate how to safely avoid doing the wrong things rather than teaching you the courage and virtue to do the right things.

Referring to Richard Nixon and Archibald Cox, he said, "Not everybody is called to defy the president of the United States, although I hope a good many of you will. But each of us in our way and in our time has built within us the capacity to act upon the right and the good as we know it. The courage is available to us; we already know what the right is; the greatest courage and gift is to act upon it."

I was introduced a few weeks ago at a dinner by someone who knew me at Harvard and who noted that I was someone who came to church almost every single day. This is true. I noted in reply that perhaps it said something about my college career that I felt I needed to come to church every single day.

Worse, regardless of how you got here or what it took, I think the motivation we sometimes feel for coming to church is not just that we enjoy the hymns, or need a healthy dose of the Bible after a Saturday night out. But rather, we sometimes come to church because we feel morally righteous in doing so. Have you ever heard a politician talk about going to church with a sense of indignant moral righteousness?

In 2016, a certain kind of frustrated, angry, even hateful politics was in ascendancy. I have to tell you I have learned a great deal of empathy for those Americans who feel hurt and left out, and they are downright angry about it. I know a lot of them, I served with some of them, and I represent many more in my current job.

I had been out of school for 10 years when I decided to return for my master's. It meant being away from my family longer than I anticipated. I knew it was what God was calling me to, but it took courage for me to walk into it because it meant sacrificing the plans I had for my life and instead embracing His plans.

I currently serve as the Sr. Director of Operations for a nonprofit that has offices in 11 cities. We partner with other local organizations to serve alongside and empower people living in poverty and those who are often on the margins of society. We provide them with volunteers from churches and schools to help serve. I believe it takes courage to continue to work to educate our groups about systematic injustice and inviting them into hard places so that their eyes can be opened to see the people who are affected by injustice. It takes courage to have hard conversations about topics like racism, economic inequalities, and the school to prison pipeline. But we do it because we believe in using our voice to educate and our hands and feet to serve practically.

Eastern has given me even more depth of knowledge about how to lead others well and also how to advocate for the oppressed. I remember my most difficult semester was when I was taking my advocacy class. I learned so much about what it means to be a champion for others and what it doesn't mean. I was challenged by the in depth look at public policy that negatively affected so many lives in our country and my heart broke when having conversations with congressmen about hunger and mass incarceration and urging them to pass laws that support children and families living in poverty. As I continued to learn more throughout that semester, it took more and more courage for me to continue to stand up and speak out.

I hope courage will continue to lead me into spaces where myself and others are able to live in the freedom and grace God has given us. I hope that I will always have the courage to say something when I see injustice, to love others as the image bearers they are, and to walk humbly with the Lord and trust his leading.

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In my role at Kraft, I was advising the people who were running the show. But I was ready to contribute in bigger ways, to conduct the human orchestra of a large team. I realized I enjoyed managing talent and wanted to engage with more people than the sparse two or three we had on our lean strategy team.

I left and joined Nabisco. It was one of the most pivotal choices I made in my entire career. That decision charted my course: I went on to become president of Nabisco Foods, which laid the groundwork for me to become CEO of Campbell Soup Company and chairman of Avon Products. Although it was hard, leaving Kraft and joining Nabisco was the right decision.

Even when the stakes are not life or death, we need to be able to draw on courage in our daily roles as leaders, friends, parents, and community members. We may not be warriors facing battle, but we must summon courage every day in our lives and our work if we hope to become exceptional in anything we care about.

Sure, our jobs may not always involve imminent danger, but there are always people depending on us for their livelihoods, as we are depending on them for ours. We need each other. To show up for one another in any meaningful way, we must be courageous.

To demonstrate why courage is so essential to leadership, consider some of the widely celebrated behaviors of exemplary leadership: integrity, authenticity, tough-mindedness on standards, tender-heartedness with people, passion for performance, and clarity (to name a few). We cannot embody any of these if we do not approach them bravely.

To lead with integrity: We must have the courage to stand by our principles even when it is very difficult or unpopular. This is not easy. But it is necessary to establish both our character and competence.

To lead with authenticity: We must have the courage to bring our true selves to our interactions. Sometimes, that means being a less-rehearsed, less-polished version of ourselves. Being more transparent and vulnerable in this crucial way helps us to earn trust; we become more relatable by allowing stakeholders to really see us and connect with us.

To lead with a tough mind on standards: We must have the courage to challenge people to do better and to clearly express when our expectations are both met and not met, even if that means an unpleasant conversation (or two, or three).

To lead with a tender heart toward people: We must have the courage to let our guard down, to lead with the compassion necessary to understand others, their situation, their goals, and their needs. It means having the courage not to act sometimes and to just listen instead.

To lead organizations passionately toward purpose: We must have the courage to make our business deeply personal. When we declare the importance of achieving superior outcomes, and connect it to a purpose that is larger than the day-to-day grind of the workplace, we help people feel anchored in work that is meaningful. Being passionate about our work helps spread enthusiasm infectiously throughout our organizations and communities.

Years ago, I hired Debra Benton, a respected leadership coach (and featured keynote panelist at our upcoming #BLUEPRINTSummit) to help me. I wanted to raise my impact in a way that pushed me a little, but still felt authentic to who I am. So I spent the day with her getting some pointers.

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Terri has been in education for 38 years. She taught for 25 of those years in early elementary grades and then moved into teaching at the high school level. Terri likes to say that as her own children grew through the school system, so did she.

She holds an early childhood credential, a single subject credential in Social Science with a supplement in English and Health Education, a reading specialist certification, and an Education Specialist credential Mild/Moderate, as well as an Administrative credential. For the past 14 years Terri has been in administration, most recently as a principal of a middle school in Northern California. She holds a doctorate in Administrative Leadership with an emphasis on Curriculum and Instruction and her area of expertise is on how best to support parents to optimize student achievement.

Terri is a mother of 3 grown children (2 of whom are teachers) and has four grandchildren. She has a passion for her profession and loves to spend time with family and friends. She resides in Northern California with her husband, Kevin, and their dog Piper.

What comes to my mind is that when I was growing up, maybe even when you guys were growing up, it was not acceptable to share your fears or things that could be perceived as weakness within society. It was less acceptable to open up and say, I have these fears, or to appear weak. However, by opening up and sharing fears, it can make you a stronger person. The quote is talking about holding on to those fears, but showing your courage. I would say a counterclaim would be to open up and discuss your fears. That is being courageous. That is a way to show courage, by sharing your fears and confronting them.

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