Unlocking Courage: The Transformative Power of Coaching for Leadership

Coaching Corner: Monthly Drop In Space For Members Of the Be Braver Collective

As a committed courage researcher and certified coach, I spend my days in the research, practice and exploration of what it takes to be a courageous leader.

Courage is the virtue that makes all the others possible Aristotle said.

Which means that no matter who, what or how we wish to become. As a leader, or an organisation.

A team or a business. If we do not know how to choose courage in the moments that matter. We will be diminished and lesser.

The full potential of what and who we can become, will never find nor take the opportunities to test the limits of what is possible.

It’s the choices we make. In the moments that matter that determines our future. Understanding ourselves and how we make decisions, what influences, limits, and drives our potential is an essential part of choosing courage.

Of course, there are influences that arise by chance. Factors which exist outside of our control. The only thing we can be certain of is uncertainty.

We might not have a made a poor decision, we might have had poor choices. We may equally be presented with golden opportunities. As if they fell from the sky – there is always a side that belongs to chance, just as there are conscious choices.

Choosing courage, knowing when to speak, act, decide. Let go, walk away can be practices, developed and nurtured through intentional efforts. And none is better than the powerful tool for unlocking the virtues of courage in leaders than coaching.

Coaching, as a leadership development approach, goes beyond traditional training methods.

It is a dynamic and collaborative process that empowers leaders to tap into their inner potential, explore their fears, and cultivate the courage to take bold and decisive actions.

I am a huge advocate for it because of the essential, necessary and uncomfortable questions and answers I have seen it surface in my own life and those of countless Clients. It’s also work I adore.

We have found in Be Braver, many many Clients who thrive and are suited to group settings.  Our training programmes, workshops, group coaching, Be Braver memberships.

These things make incredible impacts in the lives, businesses and careers of our community. Yet for others, the quiet, reflective and intimately confidential space of a one to one coaching relationship offers, the most powerful place to create sustained and meaningful change.

As we see in our own work, our Clients lived experiences, and the extensive research on courage and leadership, it is evident that coaching is often a game-changer in helping leaders embrace courage as a core virtue.

Research has shown that coaching can enhance self-awareness, which is a critical component of courageous leadership. Through reflective questioning, active listening, and feedback, coaches facilitate leaders in gaining a deeper understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, values, and emotions. This heightened self-awareness enables clients to identify their fears and limiting beliefs, which often hold them back from taking courageous actions.

Our coaching also fosters a Be Braver mindset, which is essential for building to courageous decision making.

By encouraging clients to view challenges as opportunities for learning and growth, coaching helps them reframe their perspectives on fear and failure. It helps to adopt a proactive and resilient mindset, where they see fear as a natural part of the journey towards courageous leadership, rather than an obstacle to be avoided.

Critically and most powerfully often the supportive and non-judgmental environment creates a safe space to explore fears and vulnerabilities.

It encourages clients to explore their fears, rather than avoiding or suppressing them, and helps them develop strategies to regulate their emotions and responses in challenging situations. I think of us as trusted allies who challenge clients to stretch beyond their comfort zones, take calculated risks, and develop the confidence to face their fears with courage.

Coaching was the core means of how we delivered the Be Braver mindset for Clients when we first started the business.

I have extraordinary respect and admiration for every one of my Clients – for the difficult questions they tackle and the brave answers they find. Nothing is better for me, than the opportunity to work with bright, smart often very witty Clients, who want to live less fear-fully and lead courageously.