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

by Brené Brown

“What stands in the way becomes the way.”

The more grounded confidence parents have, the more likely they are to prepare their child for the path by teaching courage, praising effort, and modeling grit, versus trying to prepare a perfect path for their child by fixing, praising only results, and intervening.

developing fundamental skills through disciplined practice is what gives players the grounded confidence to dare greatly.

developing a disciplined practice of rumbling with vulnerability gives leaders the strength and emotional stamina to dare greatly.

You have to read the field and strategize your next move before you even have possession of the ball. You have to have complete confidence about your mastery of that skill so you can focus on other things.”

leaders need the grounded confidence to stay tethered to their values, respond rather than react emotionally, and operate from self-awareness, not self-protection.

Easy learning doesn’t build strong skills.

Researchers are finding evidence that curiosity is correlated with creativity, intelligence, improved learning and memory, and problem solving.

curiosity is uncomfortable because it involves uncertainty and vulnerability.

In short, curiosity is deviant.”

I don’t have to know the answers or say the right thing, I just have to keep listening and keep questioning.

What problem are we trying to solve?

we’re responsible for respecting and leveraging the different views and staying curious about how they can often conflict. When rumbles start to get tough, we know to check in on horizon issues.

curiosity is the feeling of deprivation we experience when we identify and focus on a gap in our knowledge.

“To induce curiosity about a particular topic, it may be necessary to ‘prime the pump’ ”—to use intriguing information to get folks interested so they become more curious.

We would stop the shaming and blaming and the judging of outcomes as good or bad, and instead continuously ask ourselves, “What did we set out to do, what happened, what did we learn, and how fast can we improve on it?”

Practicing vulnerability has given me the courage to share my personal story,

When I lack self-awareness as a leader and when I’m not connected with the intentions driving my thoughts, feelings, and actions, I limit the perspective and insights that I can share with the people I lead.

growing power with people through distributive and collaborative leadership, and by empowering others to lead.