Dare to Lead

Brown defines living without defensive emotional armor as a kind of “wholeheartedness” (72). Living with wholeheartedness is about setting aside our armor and integrating our emotions, skills, and past experiences to approach our work in a holistic way. Without this quality we may try to over compartmentalize our personal and work lives, and turn off our feelings at work, which can lead to dysfunction in the workplace culture.

Brown describes the ego as a “hustler” since it aims to earn validation and praise while still protecting itself from criticism (74). As such, this aspect of our personalities will try to avoid any situations that require vulnerability. Our egos are scared to allow others to see our flaws and want to avoid any negative consequences that could result from that exposure, including feeling shame, which the author labels “the biggest threat to our ego and our sense of self-worth” (74). She then lists unhealthy approaches that are typical of “Armored Leadership,” such as “Driving Perfectionism and Fostering Fear of Failure,” “Hiding Behind Cynicism” and “Weaponizing Fear and Uncertainty” (75). She contrasts these with “Daring Leadership” qualities including “Modeling and Encouraging Healthy Striving,