Page 179 - The Bible On Leadership

Courage 165

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego exhibited great courage by letting
King Nebuchadnezzar tie them up and place them in a fiery furnace to
demonstrate their faith in God. The three men proclaimed their faith
in their protector, but further stated that, ‘‘even if he does not . . .
rescue us from your hand, oh King . . . we will not serve your gods.’’
(Dan. 3:17–18) These men had the courage of their convictions, what-
ever the result.
A modern leader who had the courage of his convictions was Rick
Roscitt of AT&T Solutions, a company that started out as a ‘‘brain-
storm’’ and went to billions in revenue in just five years. Roscitt de-
cided to launch this division, dedicated to network outsourcing, when
the company had no plan to enter this marketplace and very little
proven expertise. Moreover, he did it without his getting his boss’s sup-
port, or even consulting the boss, who was on vacation: ‘‘My boss was
mad as hell when he came back,’’ recounts Roscitt. ‘‘He said we were
entering into an arrangement we didn’t understand, and that we didn’t
know what the hell we were doing . . . And you know what? He was
right!’’ 14
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Roscitt was cast into the
fiery furnace of oblivion. He was given little support by the main orga-
nization and was treated more like an orphan. But he had a strong sense
of courage and belief in himself and his mission. Of course, it helped
that a major client, Chase Manhattan Bank, had given him their ‘‘bless-
ing’’—he had managed the outsourcing of their telecommunications
network, and now the bank was asking him to launch a unit dedicated
to network outsourcing.
A person with a lot of courage needs only a little encouragement and
resources. He also ‘‘makes his own luck.’’ After his first successful proj-
ect with Chase, Roscitt needed a little less courage as the parent com-
pany supported his now highly profitable ‘‘maverick venture.’’
A courageous leader sticks to his beliefs, and does not back down
even if it appears to others that, short-term, the wrong choice may have
been made. Peter and John were asked by the authorities in Jerusalem
to stop healing the sick and stop teaching in the name of Jesus. Their
answer was that ‘‘we cannot help speaking about what we have seen