So to make sure we don't get off on that foot, courage is resistance to fear or mastery of it, but it is not the absence of fear.

We can't stay here." When I am faced with the choice of doing nothing or doing something, I will always choose to act.

Fear no longer has a place in my life. For too long, fear has outweighed my desire to make things better for my family. Never again! I have exposed fear as a vapor, an impostor that never had any power over me in the first place! I do not fear opinion, gossip, or the idle chatter of monkeys, for all are the same to me. I do not fear failure, for in my life, failure is a myth. Failure exists only for the person who quits. I do not quit.

THE FOURTH DECISION FOR SUCCESS: I have a decided heart.

Next generation leaders are those who would rather challenge what needs to change and pay the price than remain silent and die on the inside.

Simply recognizing the need for change does not define leadership. The leader is the one who has the courage to act on what he sees…A leader is someone who has the courage to say publicly what everybody else is whispering privately. It is not his insight that sets the leader apart from the crowd. It is his courage to act on what he sees, to speak up when everyone else is silent.

The leader is the one who has the courage to act on what he sees.

Courage establishes leadership.

Fear defies logic. Information only goes so far. Even when armed with all the reasons why we should not be afraid, the fear remains.

Leaders are not always the first to see an opportunity. They are simply the first to seize an opportunity. It is the person who seizes the opportunity who emerges as the leader. But fear has kept many would-be leaders on the sidelines, while good opportunities paraded by. They didn't lack insight. They lacked courage.

Leaders are not always the first to see the need for change, but they are the first to act. And once they move away from the pack, they are positioned to lead.

You can't lead without taking risk. You won't take risk without courage. Courage is essential to leadership.