385 Thursday Refresh: Jim Detert on How to Choose Courage and Be Brave at Work

Author: Mahan Tavakoli
Published: Thu 01 May 2025
Episode Link: None

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Jim Detert, John L. Colley Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and author of Choosing Courage: The Everyday Guide to Being Brave at Work. In this conversation, Jim Detert shares how we can become more courageous by developing our courage capabilities. Jim Detert also shares how leaders can nurture a psychologically safe organizational culture, enabling and encouraging more courageous interactions and decisions at work.

Some highlights:

-Why attributing courage just to historical figures can be counterproductive

-The importance of being more courageous and how to develop our courage muscle

-Jim Detert on the benefits of courage at work

-How leaders can create a psychologically safe environment that encourages team members to speak up and contribute their best at work

Mentioned:

-Amy Edmondson, Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School and author of Fearless Organization and Creating Psychological Safety

-Vanessa Bohns (Listen to Partnering Leadership conversation with Vanessa Bohns)

-Gary Bolles (Listen to Partnering Leadership conversation with Gary Bolles)

-Difficult Conversations by Bruce Patton, Douglas Stone, and Sheila Heen

-Radical Candor by Kim Scott

-Giving Voice to Values by Mary C. Gentile