Retired tennis player James Blake turned the experience of being wrongfully arrested in New York City into two things good. One was a fellowship for victims’ rights.
The second is the book “Ways of Grace: Stories of Activism, Adversity and How Sports Can Bring Us Together.” It tells the story of men and women activists who defied authority in the cause of the greater good.
Inspiring as these stories are, they exemplify the concept of grace.
For believers, grace is both the knowledge of living in the spirit of a higher power. For laypeople, grace sense of self that enables one to maintain equilibrium in the face of hardship.
Grace for both is putting what you believe into practice for the betterment of others. And, for that reason, it resonates strongly with leaders.
Leaders who demonstrate grace are those who are first and foremost comfortable in their own skins. They know themselves, warts and all. They shore up shortcomings with people who can do tasks with better fluency.
Grace in all of its dimensions, most of all courage, is something that enriches a leader’s perspective making him or her at once admirable as well as accessible.
Grace plays to aspiration of followers. We want to emulate those we admire, and we seek to follow their example.