It’s Fan Friday again, which means I’m going to share with you another person I’m a huge fan of.
Over the course of my career, I’ve had the privilege to see some amazing speakers, up close and personal. I’ve seen people like Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink, Steve Farber, Marshall Goldsmith, Peter Block, Richard Strozzi, and many others.
Last weekend I was blown away by the one and only Brene Brown.
In case you are one of the few people in the world who hasn’t heard of Brene yet, she has one of the most popular TED talks, with over 5 million views. She has a very popular website, and she’s published a handful of books.
But what, you might ask, does Brene write and talk about?
Brene is a research professor at the University of Houston and she studies shame and fear. She doesn’t just study it in theory, she conducts actual research with real people. What she has learned about shame and fear has led her to develop courses and training to develop shame resilience. Her research has helped many people live with more courage, more creativity, more joy, more gratitude, and more belonging.
Her research is changing the way we look at vulnerability and courage. And hearing her speak this past weekend is changing the way I look at my own life. Here’s just a few “nuggets of wisdom” I wrote down from her presentation:
“Our potential to have great experiences is equal to our willingness to be vulnerable.”
“Your capacity to be whole-hearted can never exceed your capacity to be broken-hearted.”
“The best way to revolutionize the world is to just keep contributing.”
“The only people who can lean in to joy are those who have a huge capacity for vulnerability.”
I’m a fan of Brene Brown for these reasons:
- She conducts important research on topics that aren’t very well researched.
- She translates that research into practical insights and recommendations.
- She is “real” and authentic and shares honest stories about herself in order to explain her research.
The shorter way of saying this is that I think Brene is brilliant. I could paste in the 10 pages of notes I took, but I like you too much to bore you.
You should just go read her books and read her website and watch her TED video. And then think about what she has to say.
Because every single person reading this post has felt shame at some point in their life. Guaranteed.
Which means you might want to go watch her video here now…
Brene is that unique researcher who conducts important research AND makes that research relevant for a broad audience. I’m a huge fan of work, because I think her messages are important and practical for everyone.
Her video is only 20 minutes long. Go, go watch it now…
