Leading With Emotional Courage – Every Leader Has an Opportunity to Lead

Great leadership – of the kind that unifies teams and inspires action – requires confidence, connection, and commitment from all those involved – but its greatest challenge lies in emotional courage.

Peter Bregman is a leadership coach and the Chief Executive Officer of Bregman Partners, which offers advice to CEOs and their executive teams. His articles have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Business Week, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Forbes and PBS among other outlets.

Confidence

Peter Bregman, CEO of leadership consulting firm Bregman Partners and author of the recent book Leading with Emotional Courage, strongly believes that every person has an opportunity to lead. He trains managers and individuals on how to identify their leadership potential, display behaviors that demonstrate it, model change effectively and foster emotional courage growth among themselves and their teams.

Great leaders, according to him, possess confidence in themselves, connections with others and are dedicated to what matters in life – traits which he advocates are evident on his popular Bregman Leadership Podcast and in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company Forbes and Psychology Today publications as regular contributors. In addition, Bregman frequently appears as a guest expert on PBS, ABC and CNN programs as well as Fox Business News shows as an analyst/commentator.

Bregman is renowned as an esteemed speaker, offering powerful yet practical keynotes brimming with leadership examples and exercises that illustrate complex leadership concepts in a manner that makes them accessible and applicable for audiences. His captivating storytelling and experiential activities help participants drive change, overcome uncertainty and cultivate environments where people and businesses flourish.

Bregman’s approach is grounded in the belief that organizations are designed to serve as launchpads for talent, and that unlocking its full potential depends on how leaders are managed. His aim is to develop a system which empowers all employees to become leaders easily while creating an atmosphere of trust and transparency where taking risks and being courageous are encouraged.

Bregman recommends a four-pillar process known as The Big Arrow to accomplish this. This requires having confidence in oneself, connecting to others, being committed to what matters and having emotional courage – this requires being willing to show your true colors without masks on, having tough conversations and accepting discomfort in yourself and others.

Engaging with The Big Arrow will give you more confidence in yourself as a leader, which in turn enables you to have tough conversations and take actions which might feel intimidating or uncomfortable – ultimately leading to greater collaboration from others who will join in your journey of courageous leadership.

Connection

As part of being an effective leader, knowing how to connect with others is of utmost importance. This includes listening attentively, having difficult discussions when necessary and connecting others with a larger purpose that inspires others. Being able to engage people effectively makes the difference between getting things done successfully or failing in doing so in spite of significant organizational challenges.

Bregman will share how emotional courage can help initiate difficult conversations, foster accountability and drive focused action on your most essential work. You will learn how to speak up when others remain silent while remaining steadfast, grounded and measured during uncertainty. Furthermore, Bregman outlines how you can respond productively to political opposition- even mistrustful backstabbing- without getting sidetracked, distracted or losing focus.

Leadership challenges involve confronting potentially harmful animals or undertaking risky endeavors with courage; but effective communication skills can be seen as more than merely leadership tools – they’re essential life skills as well.

Peter Bregman is a leadership consulting CEO, author of 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction and Get the Right Things Done (Wall Street Journal Bestseller); Point B: A Short Guide to Leading Big Change; as well as four other books. A regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Psychology Today and Forbes publications as well as CNN, NPR, FOX Business News and The Financial Times as well as hosting his top-rated Bregman Leadership Podcast (#1).

He believes everyone has the ability to become great leaders, no matter their role in an organization. His goal is to close the gap between what leaders know about leadership and how they actually lead; by helping individuals, teams, and companies develop emotional courage.

His workshops offer actionable strategies culled from both his coaching experience and personal leadership journey, drawing upon coaching experience as well as personal. He can make complex concepts accessible and relevant for audiences worldwide – encouraging leaders to become their best version. He works with organizations to cultivate courage to drive change, navigate uncertainty and instill bolder behaviour among teams.

Commitment

Leaders face numerous challenges in initiating difficult conversations, creating accountability, and inspiring focused action on their organization’s most essential work. A powerful leader stands out from weak ones by having emotional courage – the capacity and willingness to experience uncomfortable emotions such as fear, anger and resentment without letting these dictate their behavior. Fearful encountering these feelings often keeps us from having the difficult conversations necessary for progressing our organization forward.

Peter Bregman is a best-selling author, podcast host, leadership consultant and CEO of Bregman Partners. Recognized as the #1 executive coach worldwide by Leading Global Coaches, he helps successful people become exceptional leaders and stellar human beings. A frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Psychology Today as well as CNN, NPR, ABC and FOX Business News; Peter has also established and directed one of the world’s premier leadership development programs: Bregman Leadership Intensive; this four step process also trains coaches how to facilitate its delivery.

Bregman: To lead effectively, leaders need confidence in themselves, connections with others and dedication to what matters. While all three traits may seem contradictory at once, all three can coexist simultaneously when managed correctly; you need both confidence, connections and commitment all at the same time; this takes tremendous emotional courage!

Leadership theory lags far behind reality and what most people actually practice – an obvious gap that needs filling. Emotion-based courage is what allows you to speak up when everyone else is silent, remain grounded when faced with uncertainty, and keep long-term perspective when chaos ensues. Emotion-based courage also allows you to admit when you don’t know something and ask for assistance, weather other people’s anger without becoming sidetracked or distracted, lead with integrity and achieve results; so this book offers great help in becoming an effective leader!

Emotional Courage

At some point in your professional or personal life, you may face difficult challenges that require courage to face head on. This could involve telling a close friend or relative the hard truth about how they really feel, standing up against an injustice committed against you, or engaging in uncomfortable but necessary dialogue at work.

Bregman states that successful leaders distinguish themselves by not simply knowing what to say and do but being willing to endure any associated discomfort, risk, or uncertainty in doing it – an approach known as Emotional Courage.

Emotional courage is defined as the type of bravery that allows us to make hard, yet necessary choices for our overall wellbeing, regardless of any personal cost or inconvenience. It means letting go of people or things no longer bringing happiness or fulfilling positive roles, admitting mistakes when necessary and asking for forgiveness when appropriate, all with the goal of taking steps toward what matters most to us all.

Courage may take many forms; climbing mountains and skydiving may seem easier in comparison. Yet this kind of courage is just as commendable and essential to great leadership; it allows people to become vulnerable with each other and form stronger connections than ever.

Assuming emotional courage means being compassionate, accessible and humble; your employees and teammates will feel like they can approach you with any questions or voice any concerns that arise. They’ll see you as human rather than an inhuman authority figure above being challenged.

Peter coaches highly successful people to become exceptional leaders and outstanding people. His clients include CEOs, business owners and managers on how to speak out boldly when speaking truth to power; align teams effectively; inspire action from their workers and achieve results. Peter is the author of several books such as 18 Minutes: How to Have Hard Conversations, Create Accountability, Inspire Action on Your Most Important Work; Leading with Emotional Courage; and The Leader’s Guide to Mental Fitness – his articles and comments have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company Psychology Today Forbes as well as CNN ABC PBS programs and CNN ABC PBS shows.