Bravery

“Every leader has (or should have) a moral code – a spur that gets him up in the morning, and a matrix that tells him what he may, what he must, and what he must not do. He has to decide if his moral beliefs are sensible, and if his line of work suits them, and he should know that those decisions may cost him time and money, perhaps popularity and power.

“The varieties of bravery are not necessarily connected. Benedict Arnold was as brave a warrior as George Washington, and had a shattered leg to prove it, but he did not have the courage of his convictions, because he had no convictions. Bravery is a quality a leader must show whenever it is needed. If he does not have it naturally, then he must acquire it. Life supplies many opportunities for training.”

– Richard Brookhiser, George Washington on Leadership, p. 184.