Your September issue on courage should be read by everyone. By giving us real heroes, you've given us added emotional fuel to withstand the attacks of those who want stale conformity to win out over human progress. But courage, in my opinion, is not primary. It flows from integrity (loyalty in action to one's ideas), honesty (the refusal to fake reality), and from the recognition that character is the source of all values. Anyone who holds these virtues has the capacity for great courage and profound happiness. Thanks for giving us more unassailable proof that it's all possible.
Peter Murphy
CEO, Objective Consulting
Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
Thank you, Fast Company, for being the first major business publication to call it like it is. For decades we have been having the wrong conversation. Simply put, it takes courage for leaders to be humble and listen to those courageous enough tochallenge the status quo. Leaders, particularly in public companies, need courage to take the long view and create new possibilities in their business instead of bowing to Wall Street. Even more courage is required to own the inevitable mistakes that would come from such a process. What does courage have to do with business? Everything.
Tom Bowes and Tim Dixon
Partners
InCourage Inc.
Georgetown, Ontario
As a thirtysomething who's feeling overwhelmed and apathetic as I watch today's political and corporate environments, I found your entire courage issue outstanding and very motivating. In my view, without leadership and the requisite courage that must accompany it, all the rest of your monthly issues are irrelevant. I can only hope that you flood Capitol Hill and boardrooms across America with free copies!
Brian Nelson
IT/communications specialist
Computer Sciences Corp.
Huntsville, Alabama
I enjoy reading Fast Company each month -- the only magazine I read from cover to cover -- because the topics are very relevant to me as a leader and the responsibilities that I have directing my organization. But I also enjoy it because it's the only periodical with a conscience. The article in your September edition on Gap's decision to publish the working conditions of some of its factories overseas ("Gap's New Look: The See-Through") was fabulous. It's certainly courageous of Gap to be transparent, and equally commendable for you to focus on companies over the years that care about their workers in Third World countries.
Gino Grunberg
Gig Harbor, Washington
I really don't know much about John McCain aside from his presidential run and his TV appearances. But his article ("In Search of Courage") in your September issue sums up courage perfectly, especially for a young businessowner like myself who is hesitant to focus and do what has never been done in my industry. Remorse is definitely an awful companion -- one that I do not want to live with, and certainly one I do not want my son to live with.
Hank Hurst
Web/Visual F/X designer
4 Advanced Media Inc.
Tampa, Florida
John McCain's earnest desire to be the spokesperson on courage unfortunately instills his convoluted understanding of true courage, of which I think the meaning is "heart and spirit." I appreciate that he has a deep understanding of courage and fear, but pitching this duality discounts the everyday behaviors of ordinary people and the profound stories of courage that he puts down, such as escaping a failed marriage, or the "little incident as a turning point in my life" that let John Byrne ("Why Courage?") find his courageous voice.
Sandra Ford Walston
Owner
Courage Leadership
Denver, Colorado
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