Courage is contagious. Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver.

Trust is foundational to effective leadership. Brown identifies key elements of trust, including reliability, accountability, and integrity. Leaders must consistently demonstrate these qualities to build and maintain trust within their teams. “Trust is built in very small moments.”

Building Trust

Self-awareness is crucial for effective leadership. Brown highlights the importance of understanding one’s strengths, weaknesses, and emotional triggers. Self-aware leaders can better manage their responses and build stronger, more authentic connections with their teams. “Self-awareness and self-love matter. Who we are is how we lead.”

The Role of Self-awareness

1.	The Power of Vulnerability	2.	Courageous Leadership	3.	Building Trust	4.	Embracing Failure and Learning	5.	Creating a Culture of Feedback	6.	The Importance of Empathy	7.	Setting Clear Boundaries	8.	The Value of Curiosity and Learning	9.	Overcoming Perfectionism	10.	Recognizing and Addressing Shame	11.	The Role of Self-Awareness	12.	Cultivating Resilience	13.	Leading with Values

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You can choose courage, or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.

Feedback is essential for personal and organizational growth. Brown advocates for a culture where feedback is given and received with empathy and respect. Constructive feedback helps individuals and teams improve and aligns everyone towards common goals. “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.”

Creating a Culture of Feedback

Brown asserts that vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. Leaders who embrace vulnerability foster trust and innovation within their teams. Being open about uncertainties and showing genuine emotions can lead to deeper connections and more authentic leadership. “Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up when you can’t control the outcome.”

The Power of Vulnerability

Empathy involves understanding and sharing the feelings of others. Brown highlights that empathetic leaders build stronger relationships and foster a supportive environment. Empathy enables leaders to connect with their teams on a deeper level and address their needs effectively. “Empathy is simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’”

The Importance of Empathy

Shame can undermine confidence and performance. Brown discusses how recognizing and addressing shame can help leaders create a more supportive and resilient culture. Leaders must foster an environment where people feel safe to express themselves without fear of shame. “Shame is the most powerful, master emotion. It’s the fear that we’re not good enough.”

Recognising & Addressing Shame

Values guide behavior and decision-making. Brown emphasizes the importance of identifying and living by core values. Leaders who lead with values create a sense of purpose and alignment within their teams, fostering a strong and cohesive organizational culture. “Living into our values means that we do more than profess our values, we practice them.”

Leading with Values

Courageous leaders are willing to take risks and face challenges head-on. Brown explains that courage involves acting with integrity and standing up for what is right, even when it is difficult. This type of leadership inspires others and drives meaningful change. “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.”

Courageous Leadership

Boundaries are necessary for healthy relationships and effective leadership. Brown explains that clear boundaries help prevent burnout and ensure mutual respect. Leaders must communicate their boundaries clearly and respect the boundaries of others. “Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.”

Setting Clear Boundaries

Resilience is the ability to recover from setbacks and keep moving forward. Brown explores how leaders can cultivate resilience in themselves and their teams by fostering a growth mindset, encouraging persistence, and providing support during challenging times. “Resilience is more available to people who are curious about their own line of thinking and behaving.”

Cultivating Resilience

Perfectionism can be paralyzing and counterproductive. Brown advises leaders to let go of the need for perfection and instead strive for excellence. Embracing imperfection allows for creativity, growth, and a more realistic and compassionate approach to leadership. “Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best.”

Overcoming Perfectionism

Failure is an inevitable part of growth. Brown encourages leaders to view failures as opportunities for learning rather than setbacks. By fostering a culture that accepts mistakes and emphasizes learning, leaders can drive continuous improvement and innovation. “There is no innovation and creativity without failure.”

Embracing Failure & Learning

Curiosity drives innovation and problem-solving. Brown emphasizes the importance of fostering a culture of curiosity, where questioning and exploring new ideas are encouraged. Leaders should model curiosity and promote continuous learning within their teams. “Curiosity is a shaming-free way to explore emotions and behavior.”

The Value of Curiosity & Learning

Discover the transformative power of vulnerability and courageous leadership in Brené Brown’s “Dare to Lead,” where leaders learn to build trust, embrace empathy, and foster innovation.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead. Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start. Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? In this new book, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love. Brown writes, “One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It’s learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It’s why we’re here.” Whether you’ve read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you’re new to Brené Brown’s work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.

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Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation – Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work. Brené is also a visiting professor in management at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business. She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and her latest book, Dare to Lead.Brené hosts the Unlocking Us Podcast and the Dare to Lead Podcast. Her TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 50 million views.

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