WHEN VIEWING ON A TABLET OR MOBILE -- DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM energy to our purpose; and perseverance is the driving force that enables us to stay the course in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds. I believe that perseverance serves as the driver and leverage point for a leader’s core values. Some new and aspiring leaders exhibit self-limiting behavior and speech. They start a project, run into an obstacle, and throw their hands up and say, “Oh, this is not working. We had better give up the project.” Effective leaders take a different approach. They realize that to achieve something that is worth doing there will be obstacles in their pathway toward success. However, these leaders view their challenges as opportunities to learn, grow, and develop. They work hard to develop new strategies and new perspectives. I like to think of an obstacle as a metaphorical steep hill that I need to climb. To be successful I must be persistent in building up the physical and men- tal stamina I need in order to persevere and conquer that hill. So if it appears that a project that I am working on is going awry, I must build up the intellec- tual, problem-solving stamina to make a midcourse correction in order to meet with success. I must exhibit a realistic, can-do attitude that comes from a sense of learned optimism, self-confidence, and the need to persist. In other words, I must persevere until I remove the obstacle and accomplish my goal. However, as I accomplish that goal, I am well aware that the stamina I’ve build up will be coupled with new stamina that I will need for the next steep hill I must climb. 8. Courage Courage takes on several meanings for a successful leader. Courage means keeping in mind the interests of the people that you serve. Being a leader with courage means that you understand the importance of your organization’s mis- sion and that you are willing to take bold steps on behalf of that mission. Great leaders must also have the courage to acknowledge what is missing from their organizations and even from society. With courage, they must con- front workplace incompetence, the failure of educating all children, and an absence of social justice. Only then can they implement positive change. Just as important, courageous leaders must be able to check up on them- selves. To be a courageous leader, you must have the courage to confront your- self about your contributions to either the success or failure of an endeavor. My experience has taught me that showing courage means not automatically blaming others for a project’s shortcomings. Rather, showing courage means Chapter 1 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL