Now is the Time for Courage
In this thoughtful article by Harvard Business School Professor Ranjay Gulati, now is the time for leaders at every level, from the classroom to the boardroom, to demonstrate courage in the face of adversity. This is from the September/October 2025 issue of Harvard Business Review.
“Fortune favors the brave, not the cautious.” Only 9% of companies emerged from the past three recessions stronger, while their competitors withdrew. The research quoted by the authors offers ideas that apply to educational leaders who are facing budget cuts, loss of student population, and public criticism. This is our great recession. The author offers ideas for how to learn from historically challenging situations. Here are the lessons from courageous leaders around the world:
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Create a positive narrative. We have many courageous teachers and school leaders; if we don’t tell their stories, no one else will.
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Find a moral quest. When people are inspired by a sense of moral clarity, they are willing to take the actions necessary to pursue the moral quest.
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Call upon your faith. This is not about religion, but rather about the need to acknowledge that there are forces more important than ourselves. In our context, we consider not only this year’s test scores, but the future of our students for decades. Many of our colleagues who have been in the profession for a while have had the wonderful experience of students thanking us for what we did five, ten, or 20 years ago. Faith is about focusing on the promising future, not just the present despair.
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Find connections. Courage is a team sport, the author claims. Crucial connections include allies and also critics. The greatest mistake that leaders make is the presumption of perfection. Courageous leaders listen to others, not just cheerleaders.
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Stay calm. This diminishes the traditional “freeze, flee, or fight” response to threats. It’s impossible to be courageous without self-care, including small physical and mental rituals. You can’t be a hero on four hours of sleep, inadequate nutrition, and no physical fitness.
I am not diminishing the pervasive sense of fear in schools today. But in every classroom, cabinet meeting, and board room discussion, we must choose between two paths – one of despair or one of courage. There are decades of evidence showing that when there are challenging circumstances, the latter is the better course for our students and ourselves.
Here’s the link: https://hbr.org/2025/09/now-is-the-time-for-courage
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