Leading with Emotional Courage - by Peter Bregman (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Each short chapter offers a simple, practical step for building your Emotional Courage muscle, flexing it, watching it grow stronger. By the end of the book, readers will be better able to speak up when others are silent; remain steadfast, grounded, and measured in the face of uncertainty; respond productively to political opposition -- maybe even bad-faith backstabbing -- without getting sidetracked, distracted, or losing focus; and stay in the discomfort of a colleague's anger without shutting off or becoming defensive"--

Book Synopsis

The Wall Street Journal bestselling author of 18 Minutes unlocks the secrets of highly successful leaders and pinpoints the missing ingredient that makes all the difference

You have the opportunity to lead: to show up with confidence, connected to others, and committed to a purpose in a way that inspires others to follow. Maybe it's in your workplace, or in your relationships, or simply in your own life. But great leadership--leadership that aligns teams, inspires action, and achieves results--is hard. And what makes it hard isn't theoretical, it's practical. It's not about knowing what to say or do. It's about whether you're willing to experience the discomfort, risk, and uncertainty of saying or doing it. In other words, the most critical challenge of leadership is emotional courage. If you are willing to feel everything, you can do anything.

Leading with Emotional Courage, based on the author's popular blogs for Harvard Business Review, provides practical, real-world advice for building your emotional courage muscle. Each short, easy to read chapter details a distinct step in this emotional "workout," giving you grounded advice for handling the difficult situations without sacrificing professional ground. By building the courage to say the necessary but difficult things, you become a stronger leader and leave the "should'ves" behind.

Theoretically, leadership is straightforward, but how many people actually lead? The gap between theory and practice is huge. Emotional courage is what bridges that gap. It's what sets great leaders apart from the rest. It gets results. It cuts through the distractions, the noise, and the politics to solve problems and get things done. This book is packed with actionable steps you can take to start building these skills now.

• Have the courage to speak up when others remain silent
• Be stable and grounded in the face of uncertainty
• Respond productively to opposition without getting distracted
• Weather others' anger without shutting down or getting defensive

Leading with Emotional Courage coaches you to build your emotional courage, exercise it effectively, and create an environment in which people around you take accountability to get hard things done.

From the Back Cover

PRAISE FOR
LEADING WITH EMOTIONAL COURAGE

"Leading with Emotional Courage is a trailblazing idea, inspirational manifesto and eminently achievable manual. Peter Bregman's central idea, 'if you can feel everything, you can do anything' instantly became my motto for forging more productive and rewarding relationships in every aspect of my life. It's ingenious, it's intuitive, and it works."
--Jeffrey Seller, Four-time Tony Award winning producer of Hamilton, Rent, Avenue Q, and In the Heights

"Peter's concept of emotional courage is a game-changer."
--Marshall Goldsmith, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Triggers

"Emotional courage is the superpower of the 21st Century!"
--Christine Carter, PhD, author of The Sweet Spot and Raising Happiness

"If you courageously adopt the advice in this breakthrough book, you can begin the tough conversations that lead to real change, build more trusting relationships, and perhaps even become an inspiration to others."
--Daniel H. Pink, author of WHEN and DRIVE

"Peter Bregman's book promises to free a huge cohort of leaders from the anxieties that get in the way of doing what's right, instead of what's easy. Finally, a book to inspire those of us who lead through the conflict inherent to organizations."
--Dr. Thomas A. Kolditz, Brigadier General, US Army (ret)

"Emotional courage is the future of leadership. This important book is right on target and--by the way--quite different than anything I've heard about or read out there."
--James M. Citrin, Leader, Spencer Stuart CEO Practice, Author, You're in Charge, Now What?

"The book, laced with Bregman's own courageous honesty and openness, will help you build your confidence, bring out the best in others, and summon the emotional courage you need to succeed as a leader."
--Liz Wiseman, New York Times bestselling author of Multipliers and Rookie Smarts

"This is a brave and generous book about being brave and generous. Emotional courage isn't about getting what we want, it's about serving others. Peter Bregman is sharing useful magic here."
--Seth Godin, author, Linchpin

"After reading this book, you will want to share it with your colleagues, your kids, and others in your life."
--Asheesh Advani, CEO, Junior Achievement Worldwide

Review Quotes

"We enjoyed this book, found it useful, and, if you don't want to be the skulking passive aggressive human 1.0 in the corner it might just be a useful book for you too." (Irish Tech News, September 2018)

"This is a tremendously interesting book that will help you be true to yourself." (PQ Magazine, October 2018)

About the Author

PETER BREGMAN is the CEO of Bregman Partners, Inc., a company that helps senior leaders create accountability and inspire collective action on their organization's most important work. He is the bestselling author of 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, named the best business book of the year on NPR, and selected by Publisher's Weekly and the New York Post as a top 10 business book. He is also the author of Four Seconds: All the Time You Need to Replace Counter-Productive Habits with Ones That Really Work, a New York Post top pick for your career in 2015.