In last month's call with Colleen Crook, we learned how you can live and lead your life consciously with passion, purpose and prosperity - easily and with simplicity. Members can listen to the recording by accessing it through the Members Only area of the Team Women website.

Colleen is a Life & Leadership Coach and founder of Conscious Living Connection. For over 20 years she has worked with hundreds of individuals and groups to help them uncover what matters most in creating a life that expresses their true passionate selves.

On the call, Colleen coached us in creating our energetic calling card using her 5 step process. If you have a dream about which you are passionate and you are willing to take action to attract all that you need, Colleen will show you how to create magic and make your passion happen.  Her services offers something for everyone, including the popular complimentary “Create What Matters Most” Gift Bundle available on her website.

Team Women Book Submissions

While we await additional submissions to the Team Women book, we will be publishing some of the ones we have already received in this ezine. Please consider sending in your own contribution. For details, please email support@teamwomen.com.

A Different Kind of Courage
By Judy Pearson, Founding President, Team Women Kalamazoo, MI

Courage and its meaning intrigue me. What causes people to react courageously in one circumstance and not in another? Can courage be learned? Can anyone be courageous? And how can we feel courageous in our careers when some days we don’t even know if, in our fast-paced world, we’ll still have that career tomorrow?

In the fall of 2007, I was invited to the Courage Summit at the Gallup Institute in Washington D.C. Attended by psychologists, sociologists and PhD’s, the conference taught me my interest in courage is nothing new.

Cynthia Pury, a professor at Clemson University, spoke to us about “The Ugly Duckling,” asking if courage was more than standing up to mistreatment. Her research has led her to conclude that the label “courage” should be applied to situations in which the losses are greater than the gains. In other words, the greater the sacrifice, the more substantial the courage.

Shane Lopez from the University of Kansas shared that even the NFL is studying courage. They’re using their research to determine the best draft picks, and not just to learn which man is a better athlete. The teams want to know who is more likely to want the ball and perform in the clutch.

A big eye-opener came from Dora Gudrun, a psychologist from Iceland, who explained that the Icelandic language differentiates between positive and negative courage. Fifldirfska refers to an act of courage done for evil reasons, such as was exhibited by the groups that overtook the planes on 9/11. Those flying the planes into buildings were exercising this negative courage, evidenced by the horrific results.

And just as men and women differ in every other facet of our beings, we handle our courage differently as well. In fact, research done at UCLA promotes the theory that women don’t behave according to the fight or flight theory we all learned in Psychology 101. Rather, we tend and befriend. We make sure our offspring, elderly and others in our care are safe, and then we seek the advice and strength of other women. The bottom line is that we women have courage; it’s just a different kind of courage.

So how does all this translate into our careers? Writer Eudora Welty said, “A daring life begins within.” I interpret that as not to put pressure on myself to be more courageous, but rather to feel more courageous. Remember the adage, practice makes perfect? If we practice feeling courageous, I believe when we need to act courageously, it will come much more easily and naturally. Sort of like typing or riding a bike.

Think of the things that you might soon face in your career. Maybe you need to ask for a raise or let an employee go. Maybe there’s an important sales presentation or an accountability meeting with the board of directors. Or maybe, most dramatic of all, you’ll be terminated. Any one of these will require courage. But if you begin the habit of feeling courageous now, you’ll have a head start on the tough events down the road. And my Courage Roadmap is a great place to begin.

First, take stock of your pluses – your blessings, your attributes, your abilities. Know what you’ve got before you try to use it. It’s like checking your pantry for ingredients before you start cooking.

Secondly, visualize what will happen when you act courageously. Visualizing is a very powerful mind tool. It doesn’t require equipment, other people, or any money. Seeing yourself already achieving a goal makes your brain believe that attaining that goal is possible.

Third, make a mental list of who will be helped by your courage and who could be hurt if you don’t act. Use visualization here too. Your engine will get a jump-start when you put faces and names in the scenario.

Fourth, if it’s all too overwhelming, don’t quit. Just step back and regroup. You might even need reinforcements and that’s okay.

Fifth, celebrate your courage! Let the feeling of achievement wash over you. No matter how large or small your actions were, it took guts to pull it off. We women are so good at congratulating others, and too hard on ourselves. Don’t do that!

And finally, practice. Courage is like a muscle. It needs exercise for strength so that when we need it, it’s ready for action. And small amounts of fear and stress can give it that kind of practice. Use them to your advantage. Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the presence of fear. Helen Keller said, “We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.”

Remember, you are a woman of courage!

"Life shrinks or expands...in proportion to one's courage." - Anais Nin