Episode 35: Dare to Lead Book Club [Part One]
To Dare Greatly
You must be willing to be rumble with vulnerability. Are you ready?
Enjoy!
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(The notes below are only a brief summary of what is discussed in the podcast. Be sure to listen to get all of the goodness! If you would like a full transcription of the episode, please send an email request to: angie@angie-robinson.com. We’d be happy to provide that!)
This is the first of several episodes where I am talking about the book: “Dare to Lead” by Brené Brown. I am sharing the things that stick out most to me and add my thoughts about those things. It is a one sided conversation - but I would love to hear from you! I would welcome your thoughts on comments about your experience with this great book!
If you are not familiar with Brené Brown - she is a researcher, storyteller, author and speaker who’s spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. She has written 9 or 10 books and has two podcasts (Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead), as well as specials on both Netflix and HBO Max.
When I think about her work – what always sticks with me is the quote from Theodore Roosevelt that she begins her book, “Daring Greatly”, with. She weaves it throughout all she does – including the book “Dare to Lead”.
It's all about having the courage to be vulnerable. As she says: “It’s not about winning or losing – it’s about the courage to show up when you can’t predict or control the outcome.”
“Dare to Lead” is based on a lot of research, conversations, data from her Brave Leaders work, and observations of leaders. She had 400,000 pieces of data. And in her book - she shares what she has learned. It is all about what it takes to be a daring leader.
Now, I am NOT a researcher – but so much of this resonates with me based on my own experience, observation and intuitiveness. That is why I love it so much!
In this episode, I focus on the INTRODUCTION.
I often say that Leadership has a different meaning for different people. But there is an common thread of inspiring and guiding others toward a common vision / mission / goal. I want to share Brene’ Brown’s definition:
A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.
I really feel and believe this sentence from page 4: “we desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership and who are self-aware enough to lead from their hearts, rather than unevolved leaders who lead from hurt of fear.”
Brené asked Sr. Leaders one question (as part of interviews): “What, if anything, about the way people are leading today needs to change in order for leaders to be successful in a complex, rapidly changing environment where we’re faced with seemingly intractable challenges and an insatiable demand for innovation?
I thought about how I would answer that questions. I say that they need to be masters of human behavior. They need to be fully and continually aware of (all of) who they are and understand how to recognize and adapt to who others are. They need to excel at curiosity and compassion. They need to know how to manage their brains. The common theme that Brené found is this: We need braver leaders and more courageous cultures.
However – the participants struggled to answer the question: “Can you break down the specific skills that you believe underpin brave leadership?”
Sometimes – in order to figure out ‘the way’ to something – you need to first identify and understand what the BARRIERS are.
Brené shares the ten behaviors and cultural issues that leaders identified as getting in our way in organizations across the world. Be sure to listen to the episode to hear my thoughts on each one.
And - as you read these – think about what resonates with you. Do you see any of these as barriers either in your organization, your leadership team and / or within yourself?
We avoid tough conversations, including giving honest, productive feedback
Rather than spending a reasonable amount of time proactively acknowledging and addressing fears and feelings that who up during change and upheaval, we spend an unreasonable amount of time managing problematic behaviors.
Diminishing trust caused by lack of connection and empathy.
Not enough people are taking smart risks or creating and sharing bold ideas to meet changing demands and the insatiable need for innovation.
We get stuck and defined by setbacks, disappointments, and failures, so instead of spending resources on clean-up to ensure that consumers, stakeholders, or internal processes are made whole we are spending too much time and energy reassuring team members who are questioning their contribution and value.
Too much shame and blame, not enough accountability and learning.
People are opting out of vital conversation about diversity and inclusivity because they fear looking wrong, saying something wrong, or being wrong.
When something goes wrong, individuals and teams are rushing into ineffective or unsustainable solutions rather than staying with problem identification and solving.
Organizational values are gauzy and assessed in terms of aspirations rather than actual behaviors that can be taught, measured and evaluated
Perfectionism and fear are keeping people from learning and growing.
All are deeply human issues – regardless if they are at the organizational level or the individual level.
Brené and her team set to identify specific-courage building skillsets that people need to address these problems. They did more interviews, developed instruments and tested them with MBA and EMBA students enrolled at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
In the book, she shares what they learned:
The Heart of Daring Leadership
You can’t get to courage without rumbling with vulnerability. Embrace the suck.
Courage is a collection of four skill sets that can be taught, observed and measured. They are:
• Rumbling with vulnerability
• Living into our values
• Braving Trust
• Learning to Rise
Self-awareness and self-love matter. Who we are is how we lead.
Courage is contagious. To scale daring leadership and build courage in teams and organizations, we have to cultivate a culture in which brave work, tough conversations, and whole hearts are the expectations, and armor is not necessary or rewarded.
What do you think?
Is Daring Leadership part of your workplace culture?
What barriers resonate with you?
Links / References
2010 TED Talk: Brene Brown - The Power of Vulnerability
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