A Guide to Courageous Leadership
Todd Henry

Todd Henry is well know for his books on creativity and the creative process. I picked up this book because it was recommended in my writing group. I actually got to meet Todd Henry during a Zoom call in that group.

The author begins The Brave Habit by giving the background for why he is the right person to talk about developing a habit of being brave. He tells a personal story from his childhood that made him choose to be brave. In the first chapter, he describes bravery and compares it to encourage and boldness.

Henry makes and acrostic of BRAVE so it’s easier to remember. Each one of these five steps helps you to internalize bravery and make it a habit. The more you act bravely the more you will create this habit. This is the core of the book.

The author next describes how to can develop agency over your life and choices with proficiency, the help of people, and your platform. He also describes three ways that a choice or action could be brave situationally for you. He describes the benefits of being an optimistic person who works hard because you believe you can and will succeed. He also provides helpful and important questions that will help you define the kind of person you are in your work.

Henry calls his readers to commit to doing brave work, stating that from the truth no matter what, and put in your best work out there. You let other people what was your work. Don’t pass up someone else’s work or take credit for something you did not do. He calls people to have integrity about their work and encourage others.h

Next, Henry talks about the right to he challenges the reader to be the first to interact with a project. The best teams have healthy conflict and protect one another from personal attacks. Good team members recognize that it is not about them. It is about the best type for the team. Health and tunes give and get feedback from another. The team gets better as you bravely and almost interact with one another.

Brave leaders are an important part of the team and work. Henry surprised me when he said the leader is more about facilitating the process then getting the result. He challenges leaders to cultivate an optimistic vision for the team. He gives some guiding principles to leaders on how to make the people in their teams and groups gain agency over the project.

Henry also writes about being a brave neighbor. He lays out some principles for how to be a good neighbor in your neighborhood. It seems like this chapter is out of place in this book, but the author reminds us that we are always working on better relationships and we are neighbors to those we collaborate with.

My favorite part of the book is the last chapter in which the author reminds us that we really only have the day that we are living. The future is uncertain, but we can be brave step forward to complete one action at a time that will eventually change the course of our lives and maybe even history. I really enjoyed this encouraging reminder.

I like that Todd gives you steps to take in each chapter as he describes each topic. His questions at the end of each chapter are helpful for growth. This book is primarily for leaders of teams and groups. Still, I gained much insight into how to be a brave leader. It did not help us much with the creative side. I recommend this book to anyone who is leading a team or group. It will be it will be immensely helpful to you.