Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
The #1 New York Times bestseller. More than 2 million copies sold! Look for Brené Brown's new podcast, Dare to Lead, as well as her ongoing podcast Unlocking Us! From thought leader Brené Brown, a transformative new vision for the way we lead, love, work, parent, and educate that teaches us the power of vulnerability. "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."--Theodore Roosevelt Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable or to dare greatly. Based on twelve years of pioneering research, Brené Brown PhD, MSW, dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and argues that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage. Brown explains how vulnerability is both the core of difficult emotions like fear, grief, and disappointment, and the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, empathy, innovation, and creativity. She writes: "When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives." Daring Greatly is not about winning or losing. It's about courage. In a world where "never enough" dominates and feeling afraid has become second nature, vulnerability is subversive. Uncomfortable. It's even a little dangerous at times. And, without question, putting ourselves out there means there's a far greater risk of getting criticized or feeling hurt. But when we step back and examine our lives, we will find that nothing is as uncomfortable, dangerous, and hurtful as standing on the outside of our lives looking in and wondering what it would be like if we had the courage to step into the arena--whether it's a new relationship, an important meeting, the creative process, or a difficult family conversation. Daring Greatly is a practice and a powerful new vision for letting ourselves be seen.
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Community Reviews
By and large, I'm pretty averse to self-help books. I can't stand the didactic tone, and I rarely trust any "analysis" contained within. I didn't have either problem with Brown's book. While she did back up her analysis with (what seems to my untrained eye to be) solid sociological research, that wasn't really where my trust found root. It probably grew more from the lack of that aforementioned tone. She seems to be simply presenting a viewpoint which she expects to stand on its own, with little attachment to whether it will be adopted by the reader. There's something refreshing in her authenticity and casualness. And the analysis itself turned out to be pretty interesting. It's not really full of groundbreaking new information/advice, but it's still a paradigm shifter. Most of what Brown has to say derives directly from a point at which she arrived after gradual--even reluctant--research: namely, that vulnerability is the key to living a fulfilling life. Beginning from that point leads to some interesting conclusions, and provides a fresh new way to see many aspects of contemporary life.
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