Moral courage is not about facing physical challenges that could harm the body. It’s about facing mental challenges that could harm one’s reputation, emotional well-being, self-esteem, or other characteristics. These challenges, as the term implies, are deeply connected with our moral sense—our core moral values. The term moral is commonly used in two distinct ways. It defines those areas of concern that consider questions of right and wrong—as opposed, say, to political (which considers questions of power) or economic (which considers questions of wealth). But we also use the term to mean good, right, or just. In the phrase “moral dilemma,” for example, it refers to the first sense: We understand it to mean “a dilemma about right and wrong,” not “a good dilemma.” But when we say, “that was a highly moral act,” we use it as a term of praise for something right and proper, rather than simply as a description of an act operating in the realm of good or bad choices. That ambiguity carries over into the meaning of moral courage. To be sure, the phrase refers, in a somewhat neutral way, to a courage that operates within the realm of concern for good and bad, right and wrong. But if by moral we mean that which is good, then moral courage also means the positive courage to be ethical. That, it would seem, is the way our seminar participants intuitively want to use it. And if by ethical we mean taking action that accords with the core values of honesty, fairness, respect, responsibility, and compassion, then “moral courage” means the courage to invoke and practice those values. Pass the white light of moral courage through the prism of our understanding of values, in other words, and it breaks out into a five banded spectrum: the courage to be honest, to be fair, to be respectful, to be responsible, and to be compassionate. And if the word values is in some way synonymous with convictions, then moral courage is, as it’s often characterized, “the courage of your convictions” in these five key areas.

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