Prepare to take notes on the sidelines of Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Difficult conversations.

Immerse yourself in this book about how bold leadership requires courage because it asks us to be vulnerable. As Brown explains, having difficult conversations such as giving or receiving feedback, collaborating with a team, and solving problems together to meet deadlines can be dramatically changed if approached from a bold leadership perspective. If we choose to approach these situations with curiosity, courage, and clarity rather than pride, self-protection, and information withholding (or “armor” as Brown refers to it in his book), a whole new level of understanding and meaning can be taken out of context.

Our group clung to a real life example of what she called the “ham tuck debacle” that illustrates how, during times of stress, even the smallest issues like not having enough meat for lunch can create stories in our minds that dramatize and distort reality. Pausing and clarifying a problem can help avoid small grievances that undermine our relationships. Brown recommends using storytelling tactics such as using the phrase “The story I’m telling myself” to acknowledge and verbalize our feelings to address them before we get carried away. In the accounting profession, where tight deadlines are the norm and collaboration is essential, communication with our colleagues is non-negotiable. However, the level of genuine and helpful feedback can sometimes vary.

Brown explains how conversations that involve feedback – especially negative feedback – are often avoided or cut short because they tend to sound more like criticism and involve less desirable emotions such as “fear, shame, grief, disappointment and sadness”. While these can be uncomfortable at times, she argues that difficult conversations – just like the ones we have in our Kruggel Lawton office (i.e. the emotions and feelings we crave. It’s the birthplace of love, belonging and joy… [and] the cornerstone of building courage.

In other words, if we don’t participate thoughtfully in these conversations, we may gloss over real-time issues, but we also miss the long-term building blocks of a meaningful relationship. Empathizing with the people around us, listening carefully, becoming curious – these are all tools we should use to become bold leaders. Brown puts it so succinctly: “Clear is kind. Not clear is mean.

Brown’s call for courage is loud and clear: we need more courageous leaders. Inside and outside our workplaces, from our homes to our governments, we must be adaptable to change, willing to have difficult conversations, and strive to be resilient in times of challenge and adversity. . Ultimately, our amount of “courage is the strongest predictor of [our] ability to succeed…Choosing to live and love with all our heart is an act of defiance.” Ultimately, “Courage is rebellion.”