Brave Leadership

It shows us how to put ourselves in other people's shoes, how to connect with individuals, and how to inspire our team members to be their most creative, passionate and productive selves.

The author writes from experience. She draws on her personal story as well as on her interactions with thousands of leaders she's worked with during her career. She also taps into research from the fields of psychology, sociology, business, and the arts, and includes insights from some of the world's top thinkers on leadership and authenticity.

The combination of good storytelling, solid research, and practical tools drawn from first-hand experience make this book helpful reading for anyone who aspires to be a great leader or manager. No matter where you are on your leadership journey, "Brave Leadership" will guide you to become a better leader by being more open, more human, and more real.

We should mention that if you've already read a lot about leadership and authenticity, you probably won't find anything groundbreaking in this book. But the author's personal insights and practical tips make it a good addition to any leader's toolkit, and her background in theater makes for an interesting approach.

Kimberly Davis is a former actress turned authentic leadership expert and TEDx speaker. She teaches leadership programs around the world through her company, OnStage Leadership, drawing on tools from the world of theater to help people lead more authentically, and with more confidence, purpose, and presence. She's also an instructor for the Bush Institute's Women's Fellowship program, which empowers future female leaders in the Middle East and North Africa, and she teaches at the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business. This is her first book.

So keep listening to hear how to define your "super objective," how empathy builds high levels of trust, and how to connect with your audience during big presentations.

Davis says we need courageous leaders today more than ever before. The world of work is less predictable than it was a decade or two ago – and the notion of a "job for life" is becoming a thing of the past. People have less job security, and many fear their roles will become obsolete. Across companies and industries, employee morale and engagement are low. It's a leader's job to inspire loyalty and to encourage productivity, especially through times of uncertainty and change.

Today's workers also expect more than they might have done in the past. They're looking for flexibility, autonomy, and freedom. They want to feel passionate about their work and connected to a vision – and if they don't feel fulfilled they might switch companies or careers.

The command-and-control leadership style that was common in the past no longer fits with most modern businesses. Leaders must instill a sense of purpose in those they lead. They need to be someone people want to follow, rather than simply have to follow, Davis says.

This book also comes at a time when topics like vulnerability and authenticity have become mainstream in the business world. Many leaders have embraced the idea of being open, honest, and real at work, seeing it as a great way to build trust. But others still hold back. Why is this? Davis blames fear.

Many of us are scared a lot of the time – we're anxious about what people think about us; frightened to move out of our comfort zone; afraid to make mistakes; and terrified of being vulnerable. Fear affects us to varying degrees, and our early life experiences will impact how we cope with fear, Davis says. But the good news is there's a surefire way to walk through our fear, so let's take a closer look at that.

The key is to focus our attention away from ourselves, and toward the impact we have on others and on the world. This is easier said than done, of course. Many of us are overwhelmed with daily tasks, at work and at home. We're focused on meeting our targets, finishing a project, paying our bills, providing for our families, and so forth. Yet, this "small picture" way of thinking feeds into our insecurities and increases our fear. We're often in survival mode, putting out fires, warding off the next crisis.

We need to rise above this and think about the bigger picture if we're to become good or better leaders. We need to focus on our "Super Objective," Davis says – borrowing a term from Constantin Stanislavski, the late Russian actor and director who developed method acting.

In the world of theater, an actor's super objective is the impact their character wants to have on the audience by the end of the play. In leadership, our super objective is the impact we want to have outside ourselves. When we focus on taking purposeful action toward this big vision, we get out of our own heads, become less self-conscious, and are able to show up more authentically and powerfully as our best selves. This super objective acts as a guide when we're in difficult situations or when our emotions threaten to hijack our thinking.

A super objective is active by nature, which is why we need to use active verbs when we craft our own super objectives. Davis offers the example of Tom, a young manager who works in a highly diverse industry where people are sometimes treated badly because they're different.

Tom has even experienced mistreatment himself. Tom's leadership philosophy is: "I believe in respect and dignity for all people." This is a worthwhile philosophy, but Davis turns it into a super objective by using a verb that's more active. Tom's improved super objective is: "I champion respect and dignity for all people."

Notice the difference? This means Tom's going to have to take action. He's going to have to fight for what's right and stand up to people who don't champion respect and dignity for all. He's going to have to invite people to have conversations and explore differences.

Davis includes a useful worksheet here, which helps us define our own super objectives. She suggests we answer the following questions: why do I care about my organization, its mission, its values, and its people? And what impact do I want to have on my team, direct reports, colleagues, customers, culture, department, organization, and industry? From our answers, we can write a clear super objective that's focused outside ourselves and inspires action.

Now, you might be thinking that the concept of the super objective is similar to a big picture vision or a mission statement, and you'd be right. There isn't much difference. But we like the way Davis puts the emphasis on constructive action. She reminds us to take concrete steps toward our vision, rather than merely talking about it or writing it on a sign above our door.

We also like the case studies she uses, from the school bus driver who had a mission to build the confidence of the children he drove to school, to the former CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, whose vision was to build an enduring company steeped in humanity.

Let's now look at how brave leaders use empathy to connect with their team members.

Again, Davis draws her suggestions from the world of acting. As an actor, her job was to get inside the head of her characters. She had to get to know their backstory, their values, beliefs, and mindsets, as well as their physical characteristics. She calls this process of stepping into another person's shoes the "Magic If."

As leaders, we need to do the same thing. We need to experience life as our team members and customers do. We need to understand what matters to them and how they want to feel. Researchers call this "cognitive" or "mind-to-mind" empathy, and Davis draws on the work of author and psychologist Daniel Goleman to back up her points.

Goleman says cognitive empathy helps us see the world through another person's eyes and tells us how best to communicate with them, right down to which words to use, or avoid using, when talking with them. When we can master this level of empathy, others will experience us as more genuine, worthy of trust, reliable, and believable.

These are the qualities that define an authentic leader, according to Bill George, author of the 2004 book, "Authentic Leadership."

These suggestions are valuable to leaders and managers, as well as to anyone working in marketing, branding, or sales. There's nothing hugely original here, but the comparisons Davis draws with acting bring the theories to life and make her ideas more memorable.

Let's now look at the book's top tips for presenting to others.

It's quite common to get anxious when we have to give a presentation to colleagues, clients, or bosses, in person or via video call. We tense up, our breathing becomes shallow, and we worry we're going to forget our lines or mess things up, in the same way that theater actors do.

Unfortunately, high levels of tension can block our ability to express ourselves fully. Our fear can prompt us to put on a mask to try to protect ourselves, but this mask puts a barrier between the audience and our authentic selves.

Davis offers a number of breathing and posture exercises to help us release the tension, as well as a really useful tip: to remember that presenting is simply a conversation. It's about connecting with the hearts and minds of the people in the room, just as we'd connect with an individual over coffee.

Good preparation is a key part of delivering powerful presentations, and Davis offers some detailed advice on how to get this right. First, you need to be clear about the impact you want to have on your audience. How do you want them to feel? What would you like them to do after your presentation?

Second, your presentation needs to have a clear beginning, middle and end. Davis provides a template to help you map out your presentation for maximum impact. You'll also want to weave in rich, personal stories, which is something the author does deftly in this book.

Should you memorize a script or improvise? Davis says that in most cases, it's best to write out bullet points for your presentation, rather than memorize it word for word. Then give yourself ample time to practice.

These are good suggestions for anyone who has to present to others, not just leaders. Again, you might have heard many of them before, but Davis does a great job of combining existing research with her own experience, and simplifying everything so it's easy to digest and recall.

In fact, simplicity is one of this book's main strengths. Davis breaks down existing theories on leadership into accessible, bite-sized chunks, and she writes in a conversational tone that's easy to read. Each chapter ends with a useful summary of key takeaways. We especially like the practical tools she provides throughout, including templates, questions and exercises.

Another strength is the author's storytelling. Her case studies are varied and colorful, from CEOs of multinationals, to middle managers, to a bus driver and a cleaner, and we like the way she weaves in her personal experience, with honesty and vulnerability. Her acting analogies provide an interesting approach to leadership, which is probably the most original and memorable aspect of this book.

Davis manages to resolve the apparent conflict between acting and authenticity by presenting the theater not as a place where people pretend, but rather, as a place where people dig deep, fully inhabit their characters, and connect to their true motivation.

On the downside, her theories on leadership, courage, authenticity, vulnerability, and empathy have been explored widely elsewhere. She does a good job of condensing the literature on these topics, but some readers might prefer to go to the original source, be that Daniel Goleman, Bill George, Daniel Pink, or Brené Brown. There's also some repetition and some superfluous sections and chapters.

Overall, though, we think "Brave Leadership" is a worthwhile and timely read. Authenticity and vulnerability in the workplace are on the agenda right now, and Davis's approach is a useful addition to the conversation. Expect to come away with some practical tools that you can apply day-to-day to become a better, braver leader.

"Brave Leadership: Unleash Your Most Confident, Powerful, and Authentic Self to Get the Results You Need," by Kimberly Davis, is published by Greenleaf Book Group Press.

And you can find Expert Interview podcasts with Daniel Goleman and Daniel Pink on the Mind Tools site.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Thanks for listening.