The 21 Indispensible Qualities of a Leader | Courage: One person with courage is a majority

6.       Courage: One person with courage is a majority

The courageous Eddie Rickenbacker “set the world speed record at Daytona in 1914”, “recorded the highest number of victories in aerial combat against the Germans in WWI” and “ survived a plane crash and twenty-two days on a raft in the Pacific during WWII”.  Maxwell wrote about the four truths about courage: courage begins with an inward battle, courage is making things right, not just smoothing them over, courage in a leader inspires commitment from followers and one’s life expands in proportion to one’s courage.

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Webster’s definition

mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

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My thoughts

Eddie Rickenbacker is an interesting story.  I would loved to read more about the challenges he encountered when his father died when he was twelve.  How did he summoned the mental strength and tenacity to become his family’s primary breadwinner?  His early working years must have shaped his personality and developed his mental strength that gave him the capital to turn Eastern Airlines around.  Maxwell could make this chapter go further by expanding into a case study on Rickenbacker and scaled back on random quotes.  Again, the story in the Daily Take-away is a bewilderment without proper context.