Great leadership can come from anyone and anywhere. Recently a man whose three-year-old grandson had been murdered arrived two hours early for his domestic flight that was to take him to the hospital so he could say goodbye to his grandson. The lines at security were extraordinarily long. Indifferent to his plight, the security staff he encountered gave him no assistance as he struggled to make it through security in time for takeoff. Finally, having arrived at his gate in his bare feet, twelve minutes late, he was greeted with the following: “Are you Mark? We held the plane for you and we’re so sorry about the loss of your grandson.”

The pilot, informed of the family’s loss, had delayed the flight by twelve minutes to allow the man to board. When the man thanked the pilot, he replied only: “They can’t go anywhere without me and I wasn’t going anywhere without you. Now relax. We’ll get you there. And again, I’m so sorry.”

I am touched by this story. The pilot chose to disregard firm corporate policy and act on his own volition. He took a risk and made the right call. Courage is the act of grace under pressure. In every moment of courage is the seed of leadership that transforms life from duty-bound sameness to inspiration. In the face of pressure or risk, this is when our true stripes are shown. This pilot earned his.