Stop Lying To Yourself

72 hours.

Locked in a room.

Nowhere to go but a good hard look in the mirror.?

Often, it’s hardest to run the same exercises you run your clients through on yourself. We’ve all heard, “Treat yourself like a client”, but when paid work runs rampant, your brand goes to the back of the bus. Your very own story stays dusted.?

But here my partners and I were committing ourselves over 3 days asking ourselves some courageous questions. We brought in a few clients we had worked with in the past and asked them to give us the brutal truth. We utilized those fancy whiteboards, scented pens, and color-coated post-it notes. And we were challenged by third parties who would be responsible for positioning us in the future.?

Since 2017, Courageous has taken great pride in becoming corporate fear fighters.

There is real fear percolating across most organizations: Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of the?unknown. Even fear of success! Addressing these fears head-on, for ourselves, was the intent of our 3 days and it forced us to face some colossal questions that included:

What is the real problem we help clients tackle?

How large is the "connection?gap”?between leaders and their people?

What’s at stake when a leader doesn’t have the words or plan to land with their team?

Why do brands keep telling stories to the world that are not in alignment with what life is really like behind the curtain for their workforce?

What conversations are employees truly afraid to have with one another??

What causes a “got your back” culture versus a “watch your back” culture?

Why is it that trust, transparency, and speed seem at an all-time low?

Round and round we went, asking ourselves, what is our role in it all??Which of the questions above are we best at?answering? ?And which ones should we say “no” to ourselves?

After our three-day spar with the above, we landed on two fundamental truths:

1. Most companies are stuck, scared, stale, or playing it safe somewhere.?

2. Most often, courage is the “unlock” and key to helping them move forward.

When conversations aren’t happening because we fear our point of view is not valued we stay silent. When we don’t know the actual solution to a project, many say nothing because they’re afraid to admit they don’t know. When we’re working with a partner who’s moving too slow, and we bite our lip, what started as frustration snowballs to anger — all while losing heaps of time.?

Often, we know the problem. We don’t know how to move through it. So we suppress the problem vs addressing it head-on. Having hard conversations IS hard. Making change IS hard. But the hardships that come from not taking on both will be far harder.?

As we move into 2024, we know that there will be times we’ll be called upon to be at the start of a partner's hard conversation or change.?To start, it may be designing a keynote, an offsite (we call them “Courageous Summits”), or a 1-Day Courage Bootcamp Workshop. Other times, we’ll roll up our sleeves and work side-by-side with our partners through a?Clarity Mission, a?Competency?Mission, a?Cultural Mission, or a?Change?Mission.?

And now to my courageous moment du jour:

Stop lying to yourself.?

Ask yourself the hard question??Where do you feel your team is stuck, scared, stale, or playing it safe? ?Do you aspire to?re-energize your people? To?refresh your big idea? To?reinvent your tomorrow? ?

One thing I know for certain is the “Re Sets You Free”.?

Helping you through?which “Re”?is our calling...and the call we want.?

Courage is the key.

THE COURAGEOUS PODCAST

Change is an inevitable force, and over the span of 16 years, Ruth Hughes has witnessed a significant transformation both in the world and her career at Kellanova (formerly Kellogg's). Currently serving as the General Manager in Europe of High Growth Markets, Ruth oversees operations across 28 countries, steering the ship for iconic brands such as Pringles, Rice Krispies, and Pop Tarts, among many others. Connecting with Ryan from her home in Ireland, Ruth sheds light on the intricacies of managing a diverse array of teams, many of whom communicate in languages other than English as their primary tongue. Ruth imparts valuable workplace wisdom, emphasizing the importance of listening to understand rather than merely responding, among other priceless insights. To cap it off, Ruth shares what raised her eyebrows in a major way from her recent trip to California.

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Missed the last 5 episodes?

• Primal Kitchen w/ Morgan Buehler Zanotti .
• Houston Texans w/ Doug Vosik.
• Life as Peter Brady w?/ Christopher?Knight.
• FlexPaths w/ Meryl Rosenthal.
• Superconnector Studios w/ Jae Goodman.

Thanks for stopping by for your Weekly Dose of Courage! Don’t forget to hit subscribe above or below to be notified when the next issue comes out.

Ryan Berman is the founder of Courageous; a think-feel-do change consultancy based in Southern California. With 25 years in creative business, Ryan believes your “future is safe with change”. Ryan is a speaker, practitioner, and authority on the subject who has been featured in Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Inc, and Forbes. Ryan has spoken on the topic all over the country including at Google, Procter & Gamble, Kellogg’s, Kraft Heinz, Logitech, Discover Card, and charity: water. Ryan also hosts The Courageous Podcast where he talks with leaders from around the globe to uncover what it means to be courageous in today's world. His book, Return On Courage, shares why companies need to unlock courage while providing practical tips on how organizations can operationalize courage today.?Learn more at couragebrands.com