Brené Brown's research shows courage can be learned, measured, and observed rather than being an innate quality. It comprises four skills, starting with clarifying and operationalizing your values. This makes leadership development more tangible and less about inherent personality traits.

Courage cannot be demanded or simply listed as a corporate value. A leader's key role is to be a 'context architect,' creating the organizational conditions for brave behavior. This includes allowing for failure, resourcing experimentation, and embodying courage personally, thereby enabling the entire organization to act bravely.

The "lone hero" is a myth; bravery is supported by a network. Courageous individuals actively seek help, relying on four distinct categories of support: moral ("I've got your back"), informational ("here's what you need to know"), resource-based, and appraisal-based feedback.

Organizational success depends less on high-profile 'superstars' and more on 'Sherpas'—generous, energetic team players who handle the essential, often invisible, support work. When hiring, actively screen for generosity and positive energy, as these are the people who enable collective achievement.

Leaders often believe fear is the enemy of courage. Brené Brown argues it's actually the "armor" we unconsciously use to self-protect—like perfectionism or becoming overly decisive—that hinders bravery. Recognizing your personal armor is the first step to disarming it.

Contrary to common belief, feeling fear is not what prevents leaders from being courageous. The real barrier is the defensive "armor"—behaviors like micromanagement or feigned intensity—that leaders adopt when afraid. The path to courage involves identifying and shedding this armor, not eliminating fear.

Creating an environment where people feel safe to speak up requires more than just asking for it. Leaders must actively model the desired behavior. This includes admitting their own mistakes, asking questions they worry might be "dumb," and framing their own actions as experiments to show that learning and failure are acceptable.

Citing a story where Martin Luther King Jr. reprimanded an advisor for not challenging him enough, the insight is that top leaders must actively cultivate dissent. They must create an environment where their team feels obligated to point out when an idea is "crazy" to prevent the organization from making catastrophic errors.

To foster an innovative team that takes big swings, leaders must create a culture of psychological safety. Team members must know they won't be fired for a failed experiment. Instead, failures should be treated as learning opportunities, encouraging them to be edgier and push boundaries.