Ronald Reagan once said, “A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets tough.”

Leadership requires toughness and the tenacity to stay the right course of action when it gets messy or opposed by the status quo — and it always will.

Moneyball is the story of Billy Beane, a General Manager played by Brad Pitt, who defies the way major league scouts have been approaching baseball for 150 years. This approach is fiercely opposed by the status quo. And it doesn’t get traction at first — so it looks like a failed endeavor.

The team is losing. Morale is low. The GM can’t get his manager on the same page with him, and the media is roasting Billy for the new unconventional approach he’s taking to baseball. Even his protégé, Pete, is starting to doubt.

In a stroke of complete genius, or just sheer madness, Billy shakes things up by trading away a young all-star and a rogue veteran because they are bad for the clubhouse. Pete counters, “These are hard decisions to explain.”

Billy’s response is riveting: “Do you believe in this thing or not?”

If there was ever an image to describe why we need courageous, pioneering, humble, adventurous leaders today who are willing to ask different questions and thus receive different answers… it’s found in this film.

Perhaps the best quote in the film: “The first one through the wall always gets bloody.”

We need leaders today who are willing to risk everything: to be misunderstood, critiqued, mocked, ridiculed, made fun of and looked down on; to get bloodied by going through walls that are holding organizations and communities back from something momentous or monumental.

Those who have the courage to get bloodied will find themselves part of something very special in their lifetime. How are you shaking things up in your own life? Your leadership? Your family? Your church?