Let’s explore what courage and vulnerability looks like in leadership – professionally or personally.  

With the understanding that there is no courage without vulnerability, here is what courage looks like for leaders – personal leadership or professional. Courageous leaders are: 

1. Curious and Open: to new ideas, and perspectives, and to challenge the status quo. When you are curious and open, you are more able to listen deeply.
2. Response-able: the capacity and ability to respond calmly and thoughtfully even when under pressure, versus reacting, blaming or judging. We own mistakes, seek feedback, and are agile. 
3. Learners. Not knowers. 
4. Models: modeling behavior rather than teaching behavior. 
5. Values-driven: leading with values and operationalizing values, so they are always center front in making decisions, and in everything you do.
6. Boundary Setters (and holders): boundaries define and shape what is going to be and what isn’t. As a leader, you are always going to get a combination of two things: what you create and what you allow. Leaders use boundaries to drive behavior, vision, and emotional climate.
7. Impacting: being mindful of your impact. Whether intentional or unintentional, you have an impact, always. 
8. Empathic: having the ability to understand the needs of others, and being aware of their feelings and thoughts.
9. Acknowledging and Celebrating: taking pause (“time-outs”) to recognize wins and accomplishments – instead of the default act of going to the next goal! 
10. Vulnerable: you can’t have courage without vulnerability! [Hmm, I feel like I have said this before. ] 😉

Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised.

Walt Disney

Home Play Assignments

In thinking about these 10 keys:

1. What are you celebrating that you have mastered?
2. What do you want more of in your leadership?
3. From here, what is your next Courage Challenge? 
4. Accountability bonus: share your challenge with a friend to help hold you accountable, or share with me.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Viktor E. Frankl

My personal challenge celebration: I am practicing step #9 and…it’s vulnerable! 😬 I am pausing to celebrate and acknowledge the heart and effort of creating content and learning for you, filling our Dare to Lead program, and manifesting a corporate DTL program! 

The waitlist for the Next Dare to Lead program is officially open! I feel unbelievably honored! 🥳

With love & courageous acts of vulnerability.
Anita ❤️ 

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.

Wayne Dyer