More discretion with no top-down leadership. Accountability with few if any controls. Intense competition for resources with demands to cooperate across boundaries. Now, more than ever before, it takes courage to speak and hear the truth, inspire hope, and trust in relationships. When jobs change at the stroke of a pen and compromising is often easier than taking the high road, courage is the key individual and corporate competency that defines the high performers, fosters resilient and cohesive teams, and builds organizations that will dominate the 21st-century business landscape.;Pragmatic and practical, "The Courage to Act" puts the art of acting with courage within reach of any employee who wants to achieve extraordinary results at work. From fieldwork that has spanned four continents and dozens of countries - from Fortune 500 companies to the Israeli military - comes powerful lessons of how team members at all levels chose to make a difference when faced with everyday moments of truth, when individual strength and character were put to the test. With thought-provoking case studies, the authors' Courage Index, questionnaires, and other hands-on tools, this simple yet dynamic approach for fostering, training, and measuring courage details the five factors needed to face adversity, seize opportunities, deal with ambiguity, and achieve extraordinary results: candor, purpose, will, rigor, and risk.