Title: Dare to Lead
Author: Brené Brown
Publisher: Vermilion
Genre: Leadership, Motivational
First Publication: 2018
Language: English
Book Summary: Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
Leadership is not about titles, status, or power over people. Leaders are people who hold themselves accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas and developing that potential. This is a book for everyone who is ready to choose courage over comfort, make a difference, and lead.
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 and work to align authority and accountability. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into the vulnerability that’s necessary to do good work.
But daring leadership in a culture that’s defined by scarcity, fear and uncertainty requires building courage skills, which are uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the same time we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection and courage to start.
Brené Brown spent the past two decades researching the emotions that give meaning to our lives. Over the past seven years, she found that leaders in organisations ranging from small entrepreneurial start-ups and family-owned businesses to non-profits, civic organisations and Fortune 50 companies, are asking the same questions:
How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders? And, how do you embed the value of courage in your culture?
Dare to Lead answers these questions and gives us actionable strategies and real examples from her new research-based, courage-building programme.
Book Review: Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
Dare to Lead by Brené Brown is a captivating examination of courageous leadership in turbulent times. As a research professor who has spent decades studying vulnerability, shame, empathy and wholeheartedness, Brown turns her attention to the critical skill of daring leadership.
With insightful storytelling and research, Brown makes the case that today’s disruptive world requires leaders to embrace vulnerability if they want to thrive and rally their teams. Whether leading change, innovating ahead of shifting market forces or trying to drive culture in a more purposeful direction, daring leaders understand they must be willing to be seen if they want to effectively lead others.
Brown structures her exploration around four skill sets she views as essential for daring leadership – rumbling with vulnerability, living into our values, braving trust and learning to rise. While illuminating the need for courage, she also digs into the fears, armor and obstacles that hold many leaders back from harnessing the power of vulnerability.
Ultimately, Brown makes a compelling argument that in disruptive times, harnessing vulnerability is what makes great leaders stand out. Rather than pretending we have it all together, she advocates leaning into the uncertainty, emotions and difficult conversations that connect us more authentically with those we lead.
Four Key Skill Sets of Daring Leadership
Rumbling With Vulnerability
The foundational skill of daring leadership is rumbling with vulnerability. This means having the courage to talk openly about failures, emotions, shame, fears and difficult issues. Brown powerfully articulates why unlocking vulnerability leads to more meaningful connections and greater trust.
Leaders who dare to rumble with vulnerability model openness that then gives others permission to take risks and be their authentic selves. These leaders are candid about failures, create psychologically safe spaces for hard conversations and role model vulnerability by letting their teams see they face the same struggles.
However, Brown also examines the many fears and forms of armor that prevent leaders from taking off the mask and getting comfortable with uncertainty. Until leaders are willing to let go of seeming invincible, they won’t unlock the power of being vulnerable and modeling it for others.
Living Into Our Values
The next skill set of daring leadership is living into our values. This means not just professing what we stand for, but actually having the courage to face uncomfortable trade-offs and choose aligned action.
Brown makes an important distinction between aspirational values and lived values by stating “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.” In other words, leaders must define values with enough clarity that they actually influence difficult decisions rather than just serve as nice-sounding window dressing.
Making values-aligned choices requires daring leaders to be clear about priorities and have conviction that drives their direction-setting. It also means they don’t shrink from the uncomfortable realities created when values collide and tough calls must be made. Great leaders don’t just preach core values, they consistently model sincerest forms of flattery like respect, responsibility, compassion, and integrity through their difficult leadership choices.
Braving Trust
As Brown succinctly puts it, “Trust is the foundation of daring leadership.” However, developing trusting relationships requires courage on both sides. Followers must make themselves vulnerable by believing the intentions and competence of leaders who hold power and influence over them. And leaders build organizational trust by using that power responsibly.
Brown breaks down trust into seven elements: reliability, accountability, vault, integrity, non-judgement, generosity, and boundaries. Daring leaders consciously and consistently nurture each element by showing up reliable for their teams, taking extreme ownership, honoring sensitive information, matching words and deeds, leading with empathy and wisdom, giving the benefit of the doubt and respecting work/life integration.
While an organizational crisis can quickly erode years of accumulated trust, daring leaders realize that consistency over time and sincerely owning mistakes to move forward are the only proven ways to revive trust. Braving trust requires patience, persistence and emotional courage on the part of leaders and it can be the competitive advantage that separates purpose-driven organizations.
Learning To Rise
The final skill examined is learning to rise when we fall. Brown states “If we are brave enough, often enough, we’re going to fall. Rising is the daring leader’s dance.” The reality is all leaders face adversity and make mistakes that lead to faltering, failing and crashing hard at times.
Daring leaders realize failure is inevitable and rather than hide from it, have the courage to excavate their feelings, regroup and lead their teams through it. This requires resilience, hope, resourcefulness and learning not to panic in difficult moments. Brown calls this grounded optimism – staring down reality while believing better is on the horizon.
Rather than pretending they have everything figured out, daring leaders get comfortable with the unpredictability. They prepare by facing fears early before stakes seem high so pressure and anxiety don’t overwhelm their judgment. And they build the support crews that can talk them through stormy periods of impossible choices and deep uncertainty.
Barriers to Daring Leadership
Armoring Up
Throughout her exploration of the four skill sets, Brown continually examines the natural human tendency to armor up when facing scarcity, uncertainty, dissent and disruption. By pretending we aren’t afraid when navigating extremely difficult situations, we disconnect from the vulnerability needed to authentically lead.
Daring leaders realize that armoring up by being overly self-protective under pressure sabotages organizational trust. They understand that cultural armor like cynicism, pessimism, victim mentality, rightness and entitlement sap engagement and erode relationships when the going gets tough. So daring leaders stay aware of their own armor and cultivate self-compassion to take it off.
Weaponizing Fear and Uncertainty
Another barrier is leaders weaponizing fear and uncertainty rather than harnessing it. Demanding obedience through authoritarian styles may seem easier for leaders but almost always backfires. People shut down rather than contribute.
While quick command decisions are occasionally needed in a crisis, daring leaders realize that real influence comes from turning groups into teams and engaging people meaningfully most of the time. They resist shortcuts that erode trust and undermine the talent needed to navigate disruption.
Speed Over Thoughtfulness
Also, in turbulent contexts, leaders often choose speed over thoughtfulness, which rarely leads anywhere great. A dare to lead means pausing amidst the pressure to be intentionally thoughtful about what is driving behaviors before reacting.
Daring leaders rule out false dichotomies and listen to dissenting voices rather than silencing them because they realize the loudest opinions often amplify the most fear. This thoughtfulness allows them to respond with wisdom and empathy rather than fear and frustration – two radically different postures.
And daring leaders stay aware of their own emotional wake and how everyone has a role in owning organizational outcomes, whether that means taking extreme ownership of failures or sharing credit when things go well.
Call to Dare Greatly
Ultimately, Brown makes a compelling case that daring greatly is a superior model to the deeply embedded myths leaders cling to like “I know where this is headed,” “I can control all outcomes” and “I can fix situations alone.” The world is too unpredictable and complex for the old model of single heroic leaders.
Instead, Brown advocates for radical candor, vulnerability and trust-based cultures where everyone comes together, leans into discomfort and has each other’s backs when rising up from falls. This type of daring leadership calls for humility, wisdom and condition-based certainty rather than bravado.
In the end, Brown challenges leaders that real courage comes from “showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” There is no growth in hiding. Great leaders realize they don’t have to pretend they have it all figured out. Rather, they earn trust and influence by acknowledging uncertainty, continually learning and letting people in.
While daring leadership requires courage, Brown believes choosing it is ultimately less exhausting for leaders because they can drop the toxic burdens of shame, hiding, jockeying and self-protection at work. And paradoxically, the most powerful way leaders build resilient organizations to weather storms ahead is by cultivating the courage to embrace their own vulnerability.
Dare to Lead makes a persuasive case that daring greatly is exactly what modern leadership requires. Brown spins an uplifting vision that if leaders bravely lean into uncertainty rather than recoil from it, they can unlock tremendous potential in themselves and their organizations. Truly human leadership grounded in wisdom and values is exactly what the volatile world needs.