Brave and Bold

Have you ever been around a person that has confidence in all that they do? They’re full of gumption and appear invincible? Colonel Candid here to tell you that there are lessons we can all learn from people who just have the gumption to go and get after it. I’m looking forward to the next time someone says you have gumption!


First, recognize like all of us, you are afraid. Whatever that thing is that just makes you a little scared or nervous, that’s the fear in front of you. When you avoid it, you make it stronger. Instead of just avoiding it, go forward and get closer to it. I used to fear counseling this one person. They were one of my worst employees. This person was loud, abusive towards others, and kind of a bully. By my constantly putting aside providing the subordinate honest feedback, I was doing a disservice to the entire organization. I was letting my fear get the best of me. So, every day I’d write down an observation about something that needed changed or corrected. By the end of the week, I’d written pages. This was enough to help me realize how dire of a situation this really was and I had to act.


When I finally stopped making excuses and just went forward and wrote the counseling, I felt great. I rewarded myself with a great big glass of wine that night. It was the first step and I know I had more to go, but I finally did it. You can do the same thing to by simply taking that first step towards your fear. Whether it’s asking someone out on a date, killing a cockroach, or letting your hair down, you can do this. Take the first small step.


Then I had to visualize the counseling. By setting up the right location, away from a lot of people and the cube farm I worked in, it felt better. I walked through how I could use this time to explain my cause of concern and issues I’d observed. Honestly, I had to walk through this multiple times but it made it smaller. I was outside of my comfort zone when this person came in for counseling. Just as I’d rehearsed many times over, I explained my points.


AND BAM! The person started shouting, shaking their fist and just simply acting a fool. At that point I realized I was really onto something. This person has a horrible temper and threatens co-workers, they even do it to their first line supervisor. At first, honestly, I was a little scared but quickly, I had the confidence I needed to step up. It felt great to not give the person an emotional response but instead work from a point of bravery. You can do this too by really walking through what might happen. Then you can take small steps towards your fear. Work to minimize it and visualize how you’ll over come that fear. Always reward yourself for taking these steps. Lastly, get after it and go for the accomplishment. In the end, the bully ended up working themselves into an exit from their job and many people thanked me for being the first person to step up to the mean employee. Here’s to hoping you can find something to courageously challenge yourself with today and find your greatness.