The Room Where It Doesn’t Happen

Last week I ran into my old colleagues Jason Holzman musings and fell in love with the following: Back when I worked in advertising, one of my colleagues was Simon Sinek who as you probably know is now a best-selling author, with a great podcast called A Bit of Optimism. One of his podcast guests […]

Public “Serve” Announcement

Here’s a Public “Serve” Announcement: A friendly reminder that the way you talk to yourself leaks into the way you talk to others. That little voice in your head often becomes the soundtrack your team hears too. ⚡️If your inner monologue is fueled by fear, don’t be surprised when that fear ripples through your meetings. ⚡️ If […]

The Best Version of Yourself

Last month Courageous was out in Milwaukee working with the leadership team at Kohl’s. What I like most about this leadership team is their willingness to invest in their people. We started off our day reviewing much of what you now have below. I don’t know who first said, “The Best Version Of Yourself”. What […]

Worry War II

I recently took the stage in Amelia Island, FL to address leaders running the restaurant industry. The Message Behind “The Worry War” Keynote The conference, put on by Prosper, was nothing short of 5 Stars! Why? Because Prosper gets that the C-Suite likes to be surrounded by other C-Suites. They created the conditions for: Less […]

Courage is a Currency

What if courage were a currency? You’d be emotionally broke if you tried to spend it on every project.How might you be taxed if you splurged and used it everywhere? Maybe courage is less a coin to spend,and more a reserve to invest when it truly matters.Some days, you save it—quietly compounding.Other days, you cash […]

You Said “What” To Yourself?

The things we say to ourselves? We’d rarely say to another person.  Headamentals After six years of studying how self-talk can spiral us or even sink a team if left unchecked, my co-authors and I are now under 60 days from launching Headamentals.  Here are five things I’ve learned from studying self-talk in leadership:  1. Your inner […]

5 Questions with David van der Sanden

There are certain people you meet in passing who leave a lasting impression. I met David van der Sanden five years ago—three lives ago for him—when he was steering internal comms at Kraft Heinz. I had been invited to join a “Coffee Chat with Carlos” during the height of COVID, and while the session was […]

The Mastery Mystery

Mastery. Is it achievable? Or Is the idea of achieving “mastery” the entirely wrong conversation? Focusing on mastery remains a befuddling mystery (to me). Yes, Malcolm Gladwell professed in Outliers his “10,000-Hour Rule” to master a skill. But it sure seems like the wrong target.  I have been studying courage for almost a decade now. I don’t see myself […]

The Curse of Success

Let’s talk about the “curse” of success. It sounds like an oxymoron, right? What could possibly be wrong with something that’s working? Here’s the hiccup: Success can breed comfort. Comfort can breed routine. Routine, when left unchecked, can breed complacency. It’s easy to assume that if something was effective, it will stay effective. That the […]

A.C.E.S

This post is written by Billy Collins, Courageous Knowledge Lead.  Just the other week an important chapter in my life came to close as I coached my last little league baseball game. Between my two sons I’ve managed little league teams for 9 straight years and while I don’t think my “lifetime” winning percentage is […]