Dare to Lead by Brene Brown

The first time I read Dare to Lead was while I was leading the contact center at Machias Savings Bank, and that context shaped how I received it. This was not abstract leadership reading for me. It was practical. It was about how to show up in a setting where clarity, trust, coaching, and difficult conversations mattered every day.

What I appreciate most about this book is that it treats courage as a leadership discipline rather than a personality trait. Brown argues that brave leadership requires vulnerability, hard conversations, and a willingness to be clear rather than comfortable. That resonates with my own experience. Whether you are managing frontline teams, addressing performance, or guiding change, avoiding the hard conversation rarely makes the problem smaller. It usually makes it more expensive, more emotional, and harder to fix later. The book is also a recognized #1 New York Times bestseller.

I do not see this book as a substitute for operational rigor. It is not. But it is a strong companion to it. Strong systems without human trust become cold. Strong empathy without accountability becomes weak. Dare to Lead sits in that middle ground and is especially useful for leaders who need to improve how they communicate expectations, feedback, and care.

My take: one of the better leadership books for people managing real teams in real environments.

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