When Brené Brown delivered one of her first leadership trainings to a group of Air Force squadron commanders in 2018, she warned their brigadier general that they would be discussing fears and feelings. Brown, a New York Times bestselling author on shame and vulnerability and a research professor at the University of Houston, didn’t know how the topic would go over considering that most people are taught not to admit to their fear. His response, however, surprised her.
“He said, ‘When your life’s on the line, you have to always deal with fears and feelings. We don’t let you lead people here unless you can have a deep affection for them,’” Brown recalls. “That’s what it means to show up and have courage as a leader,” Brown tells Fortune in an exclusive interview.
“If you are a leader and you do not have the capacity to understand and discuss people’s fears and feelings, you will not be leading in the future.” Today’s workplace is in turmoil—plagued by high rates of burnout and loneliness , while also in the throes of an AI transformation. Brown says it’s more relevant than ever for leaders, regardless of industry, to model this mindset.
“I know we would all love to believe that we are cognitive beings who on occasion have a pesky emotion, but we are actually emotional beings who on occasion think,” she says. Following the success of her 2010 TED talk, “The Power of Vulnerability,” which has over 65 million views, Brown developed a lead.
