Whenever we ask participants in the team for the brave or innovative cultural programs to share a period that felt particularly brave at work, the room explodes with powerful energy.
People like to share times when they were scared and did the right thing anyway.
Sometimes we even build a “buffet of courage” so that people can share their brave moments privately and publicly at the same time. This leads to poignant sharing and powerful insights.
Maybe some of these moments of courage will feel familiar to you. Moments when someone…
- “You confronted my boss’s bad decision”
- “Peter is a bad player after years of everyone looking the other way”
- “He had the courage to stay out of a toxic situation”
- “Insisted on the discrimination of a co-worker.”
- “Peter is a customer.”
- “Protect a colleague from bullying.”
We are curious. What was the period when you felt brave at work? (We would love to hear your stories in the comments).
Most of these stories do not deal with courage with a big “B” – new articles on the front page of whistleblowing and confrontation with ethical violations.
They are small letters “in” – choices to take a small and inconvenient risk for the benefit of the business, staff, customer or themselves.
How does courage make you feel?
When we ask how being brave at work made them feel, the answers are remarkably consistent. People report feeling:
- “fantastic”
- “strong”
- “Relieved”
- “proud”
- “Stupid I’ve been waiting so long for”
Avoiding regrets about daring
This discussion of brave moments often leads to confessions of remorse – the times when you are not acting.
Dan Fink calls these “regrets for daring” in his book, e The power of remorse: how looking back drives us forward.
Dan has collected 20,000 regrets from people around the world. In fact, you can take part in this ongoing A global regret survey here.
He discovered that people have the same four regrets, and one of them is “remorse for daring.” (For more information in this short interview 🙂
Here are examples of regrets we heard from audience members on one of our recent major topics at Courageous Cultures.
- “My regret is that I did not talk to my boss about it earlier. She was so attentive.”
- “I spent years in toxic work, but I was too scared to leave.”
- “I knew what we were doing was wrong – still waking up at night feeling guilty.”
5 powerful questions to help you be a little more courageous at work
Our goal today is to spare you remorse or two. Or, to help you encourage courage in your guidance or coaching conversations.
1. Why is this brave act so important?
One of the most interesting side findings in our psychological safety study was that when people described their brave actions, they told us, “At that time it did not feel incredibly brave, I just did what needed to be done.” They were brave at work because the reason was important.
2. What does a successful outcome look like?
You can gain confidence to be more courageous at work by simulating success. Which is better because of your brave action? What will be better when you take action this time?
3. What is at stake if I do not act? (Will I regret not doing something?)
This is the opposite of number two. What is the result of inertia?
Consider what happens if you do not speak or address the concern. What if no one else does anything either? what are the consequences?
4. Imagine that you have just taken a courageous action, what do you notice about yourself?
Dr. Amy Edmundson of Harvard, who wrote The organization without fear And the preface to our book talks about the risk of “discounting the future,” or about the underestimation of the future value of speech and the over-weighting of their current fear. This question can help you become more courageous at work by simulating the strong and positive emotions that result from doing the right thing.
5. What others notice about you after this brave moment at work?
This last question can also be fun to consider. Self-confidence and daring are contagious. They may not even know about the brave act – many of these acts of courage inevitably take place behind closed doors. But maybe they’ll just notice a renewed sense of calm, serenity, or maybe even some well-earned healthy pride.
Looking for more ways to talk and be a little braver at work?
Check out these articles, or download the first chapters of Brave Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem-Solvers and Customer Support for Free.
Your turn
we will be happy to hear from you. What moment you were brave at work that makes you proud? Do you have “regrets about daring”?
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