Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

Brené Brown

Oct 2018 · Ebury Digital · Narrated by Brené Brown

About this audiobook

Brought to you by Penguin.

How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders? And how do you embed the value of courage in your culture?

Written and read by NYT best seller Brené Brown, Dare to Lead answers these questions and gives us actionable strategies and real examples from her new research-based, courage-building programme.

Leadership is not about titles, status and power over people. Leaders are people who hold themselves accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas and developing that potential. This is an audiobook for everyone who is ready to choose courage over comfort, make a difference and lead.

When we dare to lead, we don't pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don't see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it and work to align authority and accountability. We don't avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into the vulnerability that's necessary to do good work.

But daring leadership in a culture that's defined by scarcity, fear and uncertainty requires building courage skills, which are uniquely human. The irony is that we're choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the same time we're scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines can't do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection and courage, to start.

© Brené Brown 2018 (P) Penguin Audio 2018

Ratings and reviews

While intended as a practical guide, the book's condescending tone and vague, unexplained concepts like "rumbling with vulnerability" make it feel more like a self-congratulatory account of the author's research rather than a book to help the reader develop leadership skills.

She speaks with an unbearable vocal fry making this book super difficult and painful to listen to. Basically this book is all about emotions & feelings , mixed in with her talking about herself for a few hours..... very painful to listen to

I am a huge fan of Brene and this book did not disappoint. 100% recommend for anyone building a culture of trust and creative thinkers and doers.

About the author

Brené Brown (Author, Reader)
Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston, where she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair at the Graduate College of Social Work. She also holds the position of Professor of Practice in Management at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business. She is the author of six #1 New York Times bestsellers and the host of two award-winning podcasts. In 2024, she was named as the executive director of The Center for Daring Leadership at BetterUp. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Steve. They have two children, Ellen and Charlie, and a weird Bichon Frisé named Lucy.