Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

The true underlying obstacle to brave leadership is how we respond to our fear.

Leaders must either invest a reasonable amount of time attending to fears and feelings, or squander an unreasonable amount of time trying to manage ineffective and unproductive behavior.

Perfectionism is, at its core, about trying to earn approval. Most perfectionists grew up being praised for achievement and performance (grades, manners, rule following, people pleasing, appearance, sports). Somewhere along the way, they adopted this dangerous and debilitating belief system: I am what I accomplish and how well I accomplish it. Plea

You can’t get to courage without rumbling with vulnerability. Embrace the suck.

“the physics of vulnerability.” It’s pretty simple: If we are brave enough often enough, we will fall.

Embodying and practicing gratitude changes everything. It is not a personal construct, it’s a human construct—a unifying part of our existence—and it’s the antidote to foreboding joy,

Our ability to be daring leaders will never be greater than our capacity for vulnerability.

However, there is not a single piece of empirical data to suggest that vulnerability is associated with weakness. In fact, the opposite is true: acts of courage are impossible without first putting yourself in a vulnerable position.

Feeding people half-truths or bullshit to make them feel better (which is almost always about making ourselves feel more comfortable) is unkind.