Good morning from a cool and clear Vancouver. It is the first taste of winter, and people are bundled up as they head out for school, work, or even a run.

I attended the Remembrance Day ceremony here in Vancouver yesterday. It was very moving. There were thousands of people there and the sniffles I heard were possibly from colds, but I think not. I am very conscious of war. In part because of my time in the reserve artillery (2nd Field Regiment in Montreal and 30th Field Regiment in Ottawa) as a young man, and because of my father’s service in the RAF during WWII. My father spent much of the war in India and what is now Myanmar. His squadron flew Liberator bombers stripped of all their weapons into enemy airspace to drop supplies to guerrilla forces behind the lines. For much of each sortie they were completely at the mercy of any enemy fighters or anti aircraft weapons around. He didn’t talk much about the war.

And yesterday I was struck by the word ‘courage.’ We remember the men and women who had the courage to go ‘over the top’ of a trench, or land on a beach in Dieppe or Normandy, or the courage of the women running towards the sound of gunfire to assist a dying soldier by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa. And there is a courage in speaking up, especially as a lone voice, in a meeting. The courage to have ‘that’ conversation with a colleague, the courage to say ‘no’ to someone, understanding that it will cause some pain for both of you.

You and I have likely not spent 2 years in an unarmed rickety aircraft flying over enemy territory, and for that we might be eternally grateful. But you and I as leaders show courage in the everyday decisions we make. The decisions that affect the individuals and the team with whom we work. And they are counting on us to have that courage. The courage to stand up for our principles. The courage to speak up. The courage to hold each other and ourselves accountable.
 
So in honour of those men and women we remember, and the men and women today who count on us, let’s practice our courage.