01 December 2014

Courage: Risk of Physical & Moral Fear...

The effective implementation of Operational Risk Management (ORM) requires two types of courage; both physical and moral.  What are some examples?  "Physical Courage" is the act by an individual to run into the burning building to save those caught on the upper floors.  "Moral Courage" is the decision to finally expose the multi-year fraud scheme executed by the company controller, who happens to be your boss and is a former college class mate.

The courage component is different, yet the same.  The existence of fear in a "physical sense" may be harder to overcome since it will expose you to bodily harm and potential death.  The fear associated in a "moral sense" will impact your reputation or standing in the community that you live in, or the profession you operate within.  This fear could be greater for some than even risking ones own life.

Is it possible to learn and improve your skills for both physical and moral courage?  The answer is yes and it has been a factor of education and training for hundreds of years.  The goal is to ensure that your organization, enterprise, team or community is learning both and creating effective habits.  The continuous and repetitive exercises to deal with the fear of bodily harm or blowing-the-whistle on your best friend is the bottom line here.
"What are you doing to overcome your fear to save a life?  What are you doing to overcome your fear of reputation loss?  The ratio of learning both and exercising them in the field or when needed inside the institution, enterprise or government is what is at stake."
Once the education and training programs are in place to learn new skills then the fear of action will diminish, when the time comes.  Who do you have coming to work each day who has the balanced ability to carry an adult out of the burning building or simultaneously detect a multi-layered accounts payable scheme?

Unfortunately, these are only two examples of a wide spectrum of courage that is required each day. In New York City or the SahelBoard Room to the Break Room, from the Class Room to the Conference Room both physical and moral courage will be required.  In seconds.  The courageous decision you make may cause bodily harm or the end of a career.  What are you going to do to learn and train to deal with the fear that you will encounter?  What kind of courage will you be called upon to utilize in order to act, to behave correctly and expeditiously?

Operational Risk Management (ORM) is a vital factor in your city, your business and your virtual community.  It spans the spectrum of courage from physical to moral.  The question remains,  will you act when the time and moment arises?

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