2 minute read
“Dare to Lead” by Brené Brown
by Brené Brown
By: Spencer Lash
Early on in Brené Brown’s book on leadership, she defines a leader as “anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes and who has the courage to develop that potential.” One sentence later, she states, “We desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership and who are self-aware enough to lead from their hearts, rather than unevolved leaders who lead from hurt and fear.” As the Junior League of Charlotte, Inc. (JLC) Board of Directors read this book throughout the year, we worked to be the type of leader that Brown wants: ones who focus on people and raw emotions like vulnerability and empathy, instead of ones that avoid tough conversations and avoid risks. As we start to all co-exist with COVID-19, the JLC leaders will need to be risk-takers. What does the “new normal” of the JLC look like? This year’s leaders, and the ones to follow next are working to figure that out. They will have to have what Brown likes to call a “rumble”: a conversation that is tough and vulnerable, but one that produces results in the end. While our leaders are having these conversations and deciding what the future of the JLC looks like, it’s okay to be excited and scared all at the same time. Brown states, “Courage and fear are not mutually exclusive. Most of us feel brave and afraid at the exact same time.” But as Brown points out, it’s how leaders respond to their fear that either makes them a daring leader or not. Brave leaders must be willing to set down their armor to rumble with vulnerability. So what does daring leadership look like? Some characteristics from Brown include modeling and encouraging empathy and self-compassion, practicing gratitude and celebrating milestones and victories, setting boundaries, modeling clarity, kindness and hope, taking risks, knowing our value, modeling and supporting rest, play and recovery, cultivating a culture of belonging, inclusivity and diverse perspectives and leading from the heart. The JLC is a perfect place to lean into your vulnerability and avoid always trying to be perfect. Brown states, “Perfectionism is self-destructive simply because perfection doesn’t exist. It’s an unattainable goal.” In the JLC, meetings are safe spaces where leaders can ask questions and drop their armor, which Brown says is detrimental to daring leadership. The League is a training organization where women are always learning: whether that be about the history of Charlotte, Robert’s Rules of Order, fundraising, making sure kids in our area are school-ready, or anything else you can imagine. To our League leaders, as we embark upon a new journey in the League’s 96year history, I encourage you to drop your armor and lean into vulnerability to become better leaders. To women of our community reading this and thinking that this is the type of leader you want to be, it’s not too late to join the League for our upcoming year!
