Teacher, dare to lead! (book review)

I define a leader as anyone who holds themselves accountable for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to value that potential.

Brené Brown

It may be mid-November, but if you’re looking for a great Christmas present for a fellow teacher, Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brené Brown could be a great idea. And since it’s mid-November you can even read it first! Would it be useful? Definitely, especially since it’s written by a person who believes teachers are more than knowledge-sharers and test-makers. Yay for the confidence boost!

You don’t think you’re a leader, you’re just doing your job day by day? Well, that’s what Brené explains: if you focus on your students, if you try to find their potential and help them grow, that’s exactly what a true leader does. Because teachers, as we know, do more than pass the knowledge or check tests.

But even though your job is to find the potential of your students, do you know how to unlock your own?

Enter your cave, young Skywalker

First of all, the book won’t provide you with a set of rules you need to follow to be a good leader. You won’t learnt how to speak to your students à la John Keating from Dead Poets’ Society and make them follow you and enjoy the class (though you might realise that John Keating wasn’t a great leader, oh wow!). Instead, it will provide you with stories and examples on how you can assess your own leadership and feel brave enough to give it a go.

As with any story, a protagonist can only grow if they face their fears and weaknesses. Brené uses one of my favourite examples from The Empire Strikes Back, when Luke Skywalker enters the cave as part of his Jedi training. He’s confronted by Darth Vader and finally defeats him in a lightsaber duel. And when he takes off Vader’s mask – he sees his own face: fear, and weakness.

The book discusses four competencies of a true leader, competencies that require bravery (but that’s what Brené Brown focuses on: brave leadership): managing vulnerability (of both self and the people one works with), being true to one’s values, building mutual trust and the art of rising up. I won’t get into details here, and I won’t share what each part is about, because I think you should read the book and interpret it on your own.

Let me just tell you two things. In the chapter on values, Brené says that one should determine two main values in life, and if you determine them well, you will see that they guide you in any aspect of your life. When I read those words, I only smiled – come on, I thought, you must have a set of values for your family life, and another one for your professional life, and yet another one for, I don’t know, the Internet persona? And yet it turned out Brené was right, and finding out my true values made me really happy as it’s true – in every single aspect of my life, I believe in two simple things: joy and creativity. Whatever I do, I want to add a little sparkle of joy and a touch of creativity.

The second thing I want to write about is so magnificent I decided to write a separate post about it, so be sure to visit me next week and read about the suspense of disbelief, a pretty powerful thing that has seriously impacted my mindset and made my life somehow more interesting.

What else can you find in the book? Courage, joy, vulnerability, stories, exercises, questions and love.

More than just a book

The thing I really love about Brené’s work is that it’s more than just a book – you can visit her “Dare to Lead” website for more useful stuff, but I just want to encourage you to read the book along with the workbook (yes! I love workbooks where you can do the whole work without writing on the book!) as it will give you more time and space for self-reflection. You will also find here more downloadable goodies like glossary, artworks, useful pdfs etc.

Of course, there’s more than this. There are videos, podcasts, extra materials – everything you might need to support you while working.

Daring Classrooms

It’s nice to think Brené appreciates the role of teachers as leaders, and offers a really useful hub you can use in your work as a teacher. You can get access to learning lab videos, extra reading materials, integration ideas and classroom posters – and you can use everything in your work environment with students, their parents and even other teachers. Who knows, maybe you’ll invite a trainer to your organisation, or maybe you’ll become a trainer yourself?

Recommendation

This book is not about teaching itself, although it tells you much about it. But it’s mostly about courage and self-awareness, and values one needs to feel ready to embrace one’s vulnerability and embark on the lifelong journey of self-development. That’s why I believe every teacher should read it and discover the power we all have inside.

Enjoy!

Brown, Brené: Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

Random House; First Edition (October 9, 2018)

ISBN: ‎ 978-0399592522