How To Be More Courageous

“Fear creates the gap between who you are and who you can be. Courage closes it,” explains Margie Warrell, PhD, author of the new book, The Courage Gap: 5 Steps To Braver Action.

“To clarify, closing your courage gap is not about 'de-risking' your life or sheltering from problems—natural and human created. Rather, it is about bringing the bravest version of yourself to every situation,” adds Dr. Warrell.

That includes actively taking on rough problems, doing what is unpopular, facing storms head-on, and maybe even reshaping the broader landscape in the process.

Dr. Warrell empowers us to recognize that courage is a learnable skill accessible to everyone, regardless of how risk-averse, timid, or defensive we may be.

Additionally, for leaders, The Courage Gap provides a guide to operationalize and scale the courage mindset across your team and organization to deepen trust, dismantle silos, foster innovation, accelerate learning, and unleash collective courage toward a more secure and rewarding future.

This is not another book on why courage is important; it is a research-backed, step-by-step guide to teach us how to close the gap between thinking and doing, hesitation and action—the courage gap.

“Closing your courage gap is not a short course but a life-long endeavor. It will stretch you in ways and humble you in others,” shares Dr. Warrell.

Drawing on cutting-edge research woven together with stories that compel head and heart, The Courage Gap will help you bridge the think/do gap between what you’ve been doing and what you can do; between where you are and where you want to be—in your career, relationships, leadership, and life.

More specifically, Dr. Warrell will help you develop your mastery in the two essential dimensions of courage:

Management of fear.
Willingness to act in its presence, amid real or perceived risks.

Further, as you read the book you will learn about the powerful 5-step roadmap to reprogram the self-protective patterns of thought and behavior that sabotage success to bring your bravest self to your biggest challenges and boldest vision. Those five steps are:

Intention: Focus on what you want, not what you fear. Your desire for a positive outcome must exceed your fear of a negative outcome.

Belief: Rescript what’s keeping you stuck, stressed, or living too safely. Rewrite the self-protective stories magnifying the perception of risk and siphoning courage to act.

Connection: Embody and breath in courage. Transform the psychology of fear to the physiology of courage, connecting to the power of your presence and to people who help you "walk taller."

Action: Step into discomfort. Practice the “one-brave-minute” rule, embracing "growing pains” to override your “inner wimp” (even the most heroic have one).

Learning: Find the treasure when you trip. Forgive your fallibility and mine the lessons in every miss-step, struggle, and setback.

Applying these five steps will:

Ignite passion and unlock the potential fear holds dormant.
Rewrite the scripts that have kept you stuck, stressed, and living too safely.
Reset your “nervous” system and embody courage in critical moments.
Transform discomfort as a cue to step forward and expand your bandwidth for bold action.
Reset your relationship to failure and make peace with the part of you that wimps out.

An additional piece of advice from Dr. Warrell is, “Be led by your values, not your emotions. When your values are clear, courage becomes easier.”

Dr. Margie Warrell, Leadership Coach and Author

Dr. Warrell shares these additional insights with us:

Question: In leadership or entrepreneurship, what are effective ways to demonstrate courage among those around you so that everyone on your team is more open to change?

Dr. Margie Warrell:

Be real about what challenges you.

Courage takes vulnerability. One of the most powerful ways of demonstrating courage is to lower the “got it all together” masks we often wear as a leader or business owner. Lowering this mask is being real about what challenges us, where we’ve fallen down, and what sometimes keeps us from getting back up.

People on our teams will play it safe unless they feel safe to do otherwise. By showing that you sometimes mess up, that you don’t always get it right, you make it safer for them to try things that may otherwise not.

Learn something new and share your fumbling up the learning curve.

The reason that we often resist taking on learning new skills is that we have to go through the phases of the learning curve that can be socially embarrassing and uncomfortable. It’s why people who haven’t learned to swim as kids don’t try to learn as adults—they have to flap around in the water like a 3-year-old. So, take on learning a new skill and share your experience of moving from conscious incompetence to conscious competence.

Say Sorry.

We all mess up. We all fall short of being as patient, organized, or calm as we’d like to be. When you do, own it and apologize to those around you. Not only do you win trust by being real and humble, but also you demonstrate a willingness to embrace your fallibility which, in turn, creates an opening for braver action.

Share your discomfort.

You cannot lead from your comfort zone. Share how you treat discomfort as a cue to move forward, not to retreat. It will help others follow suit.

Question: What is one specific action that anyone can take to start closing the courage gap—between who they are and who they want to be—today?

Dr. Margie Warrell:

Start where you are with the next decision you face.

Ask yourself, “What would the bravest part of me do right now? “Then do that. It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant it is or how uncomfortable you feel. Just take action. Courage is a muscle. You have to put in the reps. When we practice courage in small ways it expands our capacity to take action amid our fears and the risks in larger ways.

___

Dr. Margie Warrell (pronounced Mar-gee), is a five-time best-selling author, keynote speaker, leadership coach, and Forbes columnist. With twenty-five years of experience living and working around the world, she has dedicated her life to helping others overcome fear and unlock their potential.

She is Senior Partner at Korn Ferry and Advisory Board member for the Forbes School of Business & Technology.

Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Comments

How To Achieve Human Leadership

Human Leadership: The Courage To Face Ourselves And Each Other is Kristen Hadeed ’s newest book. It’s a raw, personal account of losing herself in service to others and the challenging work of finding her way back. It’s a story of burnout, ambition, resentment, grief, reinvention, profound self-examination, and the courage it takes to share what you discover with the people around you. By learning to face herself, tell the truth, and take ownership of her choices, Hadeed became a more courageous, compassionate leader and built a life and business that would take care of her, too. Hadeed’s journey shows that leadership doesn’t have to mean endless sacrifice or self-abandonment. Human Leadership offers a different path―one where courage, honesty, and humanity become the foundation of meaningful leadership and a meaningful life. Part memoir, part invitation, Hadeed’s story will empower you to: Recognize the values, fears, and limiting beliefs driving your lead...

The Playbook For CEOs To Lead Under Pressure

“Most CEOs spend years mastering strategy, finance, operations, and execution,” says author Andrea Petrone , “Far fewer spend time defining who they are as leaders.” He adds that all too often the leadership style that got a CEO to the top becomes the very thing holding them back. More specifically, after more than two decades coaching CEOs and senior executives at Shell, Unilever, Takeda, EssilorLuxottica, and PwC, Petrone noticed a pattern: sustained pressure was pulling leaders away from who they were. Fortunately, in his latest book, Reinvention at the Top: The Playbook for CEOs to Lead Under Pressure , Petrone introduces the Throughline, an architecture that helps leaders align their identity, message, and presence so they can lead powerfully under pressure. Whether stepping into a new role, navigating a crisis, or reinventing an organization, Throughline offers CEOs a practical roadmap for leading without losing themselves. As you read the book you will discover: ...

How To Build A High Performing Sales Team

Based on Stephanie Friedman 's 20 years of sales experience, her new book, Built to Grow: A Handbook For High-Performance Sales Teams , is the perfect step-by-step, go-to-market field guide for startup founders. Friedman offers readers a structured and repeatable methodology for building a high-performing sales function from a company’s earliest days. The book is divided into three phases of startup growth— Experiment, Build, and Scale. Within each of the three phases, Friedman covers: Sales Playbook Hiring Revenue Management Customer Success Compensations Culture Internal Collaboration Some of my favorite takeaway tips from the book include: No matter how experienced your salespeople are, any high-performing sales organization should follow one simple but important rule: No call without an agenda. This helps reinforce the necessary discipline around call preparation and ensures your customers have the best possible experience when talking to your...

Thoughts From The Book, Decide

Two of my favorite observations made by author Steve McClatchy in his new book, Decide , are: Goals : The reason so many people fail to achieve their goals is because they have not committed to defending a time in which they will work on their goals. Management vs. Leadership : Management is keeping things the way they are today. Management Maintenance . Leadership is moving things forward from where they are today. Leadership = Improvement . Steve McClatchy

The Five Traits Of An Effective Leader

I was recently asked, " What five most important traits must a leader have to be effective ?" I could reply fairly quickly, but I did take a moment to remember that when I asked a similar question in a LinkedIn group discussion, group members offered up nearly 100 different adjectives to describe an effective leader. But, for me, I contend the five most important traits are : Good communicator . That means effectively communicating timely and consistent messages during good and bad times. And, knowing how and when to be a good listener. Communicating is critical. Employees must hear from their leaders. And, hearing from their leaders in person versus e-mail and written memos is even more effective. Being a servant leader . Put your employees and your company first. A top manager who makes decisions that are self-serving will lack followers and will bring the company down. Adaptable . Today, more than ever, a leader needs to adapt. That means adapting to c...

Leadership Lessons From Kent Taylor, Founder Of Texas Roadhouse

From cover-to-cover of Made From Scratch you’ll learn the leadership lessons of the late Kent Taylor , founder of the restaurant chain Texas Roadhouse. In the new book, Taylor recounts how he built the restaurant chain from the ground up after being rejected more than 80 times as he pitched the idea for the business. His approach to business was often out-of-the-box, however, his business lessons and leadership lessons from the course of his life and career are invaluable. Here are some of my favorite leadership lessons from Kent and his book: The best leaders stay down-to-earth and approachable. In a bottom-up company, the leader learns from frontline people. As soon as you make a profit, find a way to give back. Be willing to laugh at yourself. Become a student of your craft. Positive reinforcement inspires much greater performance than fear ever can. Want to get the respect of your people? Then roll up y...

How To Improve The Way Teams Think, Collaborate And Make Decisions Under Pressure

“Great decisions don’t happen by accident—they happen by design,” shares Dr. Ricardo Valerdi , author of the new book, The Five-Tool Team: Bringing Out The Best In People To Make Better Decisions . This book is not about finding perfect answers. It is about building a framework that allows you to make good decisions repeatedly, even when conditions are imperfect, information is incomplete, and outcomes are uncertain. More specifically, Valerdi reveals a practical framework for improving the way individuals and teams think, collaborate, and make decisions under pressure. Drawing on lessons from sports, business, engineering, and real-world experience, Valerdi shows how the most effective leaders build teams that question assumptions, analyze consequences, and make choices grounded in clarity rather than instinct or urgency. “Writing this book has been a phenomenal journey that started in 2018 when I was a visiting professor at the United States Military Ac...

How To Design Organizations Where Everyone Thrives

Equity , the new book by Minal Bopaiah , is a timely guide to help leaders create more inclusive organizations using human-centered design and behavior change principles. The book is based on research and provides engaging, real-world examples for taking impactful next steps. Most important, Bopaiah explains that equity is different from equality . She shares, “ equality is when everyone has the same thing. Equity is when everyone has what they need to thrive and participate fully. Equity does not fault people for being different; it makes room for difference and then leverages it.” In short: Equality = The state of being equal, especially in status, rights and opportunities. Equity = A state of fairness and equal access to opportunity that recognizes that people have different needs. Equity allows leaders to create organizations where employees can contribute their unique strengths and collaborate better with peers. Equity in the wo...

Six Leadership Actions To Leverage Employees' Differences To Strengthen Teams

The new book, All The Difference: Six Leadership Actions To Bridge Perspectives, Strengthen Teams, and Create Value , teaches how leaders can turn their team's individual differences into deeper trust, greater creativity, and winning results. “The greatest risk of unmanaged difference isn’t conflict: it lies in the ideas, insights, and opportunities that may never surface,” explain the book’s authors, Susan MacKenty Brady , Stuart D. Kliman , and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Leslie C. Smith . They suggest that you look around your team to fully see people with different communication styles, perspectives, cultural norms, and capabilities. These differences are expressed in all kinds of ways, such as casual gestures in a meeting, a colleague's opinion on a current event, or an intense work style. Often, those differences can lead to friction, even conflict. You may try to manage around them. But, for you and your organization to fully leverage the strengths of your team’s diffe...

How To Be A Tough Enough Leader

Tomorrow brings a compelling and timely book about how tough enough you need to be as a leader to lead your team to greatness without being a jerk. The book is Tough Enough , by leadership coaches John Baird and Matt Hunter . The authors explain that building a high-performing team requires a new form of toughness―not based on bullying and bravado, but rather pushing for exceptional results in a way that is firm, fair, and respectful. Drawing on decades of coaching top CEOs, elite founders, and ambitious leaders, Baird and Hunter break down seven specific habits that define the strongest, most effective leaders, from being clear about the company culture to strategically unleashing emotional thunder. They set the record straight on when to prioritize understanding and empathy, when it’s time to be direct―and, most importantly, how to do both at the same time. Their no-nonsense approach gives readers the tools to calibrate their toughness and compassion in a ...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog