The Law of Sacrifice: A leader must give up to go up. The heart of good leadership is sacrifice. Sacrifice is an ongoing process, not a one-time payment. If leaders have to give up to go up, then they have to give up even more to stay up.

This is certainly a subjective point of view and not one I entirely agree with. For example, if Martin Luther King knew that by taking the leadership role he did, that the ultimate cost would certainly mean sacrificing his life, would he have made the same choices? While I cannot answer that question, my point is simple. Leaders make choices in some instances based upon risk. How much risk they are willing to expose themselves to is a personal choice and I would recommend considering all the possibilities that you are able to prior to making a potentially life ending choice. One thing is certain; it takes risk to advance anything we do as a species.