OPINION
Bravery can look a little different depending on the circumstances.
For me, on Sunday, bravery looked like getting into a boat for maybe the fifth time in my life and putting myself out there to cover part of the Bassmaster Classic.
As my boat driver, Todd Drury, took me out on Wolf Creek, where he predicted Lee Livesay would be fishing.
I felt a joy and a calm that I didn’t anticipate having while heading to cover the international competition.
As I snapped shots of Easton Fothergill, the record-breaking winner, and Livesay, one of his top competitors, I nearly teared up because I got to be part of that experience, albeit in a small way.
The bravery part comes in because I haven’t spent much time on the water. My maternal grandmother was petrified of water, a fear which she shared with my mom. To my mother’s credit, she tried not to share that fear and anxiety with me.
As a result, I was able to develop a love of the water that I’m grateful for, as Lake Ray Roberts is a huge part of our coverage area. That said, though, I would be lying if I said there isn’t an undercurrent of fear about what can happen on the lake that made me question Todd’s assurances that I could remove my life jacket when we were parked on the water, capturing the action.
I might have felt better had he told me, like he informed our reporter Martin Edwards, that we were in water at a depth where I could probably stand.
Taking action as a leader requires similar bravery.
Leadership requires the confidence to possibly make a mistake.
Leadership is not a place for someone who is so afraid of a misstep that they refuse to put themselves in challenging situations, nor is it a place for someone who takes legitimate criticism as an attack.
One other thing Sunday taught me—I would really love to own a boat someday.
Abigail Allen is the Editor & Publisher of the Post-Signal. She can be reached at aallen@ postsignal.com.
