Articles / Brené Brown Leadership Quotes: 25 Powerful Insights for Courageous Leaders
Leadership QuotesDiscover 25+ transformative leadership quotes from vulnerability researcher Brené Brown, backed by research and practical applications for modern leaders.
Written by Laura Bouttell
Brené Brown's leadership quotes offer profound wisdom on courage, vulnerability, and authentic connection that can transform how leaders show up in the modern workplace. After two decades of research involving over 50,000 participants, her insights on "daring leadership" provide a research-backed blueprint for leading with both strength and humanity.
From her groundbreaking TED talk on vulnerability—viewed over 65 million times—to her bestselling book "Dare to Lead," Brown has fundamentally challenged traditional notions of what strong leadership looks like. Her work demonstrates that vulnerability isn't weakness; it's our most accurate measure of courage.
Brown redefines leadership as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential. This democratised view of leadership moves beyond titles and corner offices to focus on behaviours and mindsets that anyone can cultivate.
Her research reveals that daring leadership consists of four teachable skill sets:
"I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential."
This foundational quote challenges the traditional hierarchy-based view of leadership. Brown's research with Fortune 500 companies reveals that the most effective leaders operate from this mindset of potential development rather than command and control.
"Leadership is not about titles or the corner office. It's about the willingness to step up, put yourself out there, and lean into courage."
"The courage to be vulnerable is not about winning or losing, it's about the courage to show up when you can't predict or control the outcome."
Brown's seven-year study on brave leadership found that vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change. Leaders who embrace uncertainty create cultures where teams feel safe to take risks.
"Our ability to be daring leaders will never be greater than our capacity for vulnerability."
"You can't get to courage without rumbling with vulnerability. Embrace the suck."
This quote encapsulates Brown's core finding that courage requires vulnerability. Her research shows that leaders who try to bypass vulnerability inevitably hit a ceiling in their leadership effectiveness.
"It turns out that trust is in fact earned in the smallest of moments. It is earned not through heroic deeds, or even highly visible actions, but through paying attention, listening, and gestures of genuine care and connection."
This insight challenges the Hollywood notion of trust-building through grand gestures. Brown's research identifies specific behaviours that build trust: boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault (confidentiality), integrity, non-judgment, and generosity.
"Daring leaders must care for and be connected to the people they lead."
"If we want people to fully show up, to bring their whole selves including their unarmored, whole hearts—so that we can innovate, solve problems, and serve people—we have to be vigilant about creating a culture in which people feel safe, seen, heard, and respected."
"Daring leaders work to make sure people can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging."
Brown's workplace research reveals that psychological safety isn't just nice-to-have—it's essential for innovation and performance. Teams with high psychological safety are 47% more likely to say their organisation is successful.
"We desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership and who are self-aware enough to lead from their hearts, rather than unevolved leaders who lead from hurt and fear."
"Only when diverse perspectives are included, respected, and valued can we start to get a full picture of the world."
"Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind."
This quote has become a mantra in many organisations. Brown's research shows that unclear communication breeds assumptions, resentment, and inefficiency—the opposite of what most leaders intend.
"Feeding people half-truths or bullshit to make them feel better (which is almost always about making ourselves feel more comfortable) is unkind."
"We avoid tough conversations, including giving honest, productive feedback."
"If you have more than three priorities, you have no priorities."
This insight from "Dare to Lead" reflects Brown's research on how successful leaders maintain focus. Organisations with clear, limited priorities outperform those trying to do everything.
"We can't live into values that we can't name, AND living into values requires moving from lofty aspirations to specific, observable behaviours."
"Self-awareness and self-love matter. Who we are is how we lead."
"If you're going to dare greatly, you're going to get your ass kicked at some point. If you choose courage, you will absolutely know failure, disappointment, setback, even heartbreak. That's why we call it courage. That's why it's so rare."
This raw honesty about the cost of courageous leadership resonates with executives who've experienced the loneliness and challenges of leadership roles.
"Leaders must either invest a reasonable amount of time attending to fears and feelings or squander an unreasonable amount of time trying to manage ineffective and unproductive behaviour."
"In daring leadership, asking for help is normalised and expected at all levels."
"We are not here to fit in, be well balanced, or provide exemplars for others. We are here to be eccentric, different, perhaps strange, perhaps merely to add our small piece, our little clunky, chunky selves, to the great mosaic of being."
"At the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of my life, I want to say I contributed more than I criticised."
"Daring leadership is ultimately about serving other people, not ourselves. That's why we choose courage."
Brown's emphasis on vulnerability translates directly to psychological safety—Google's number one factor for team effectiveness. Leaders who admit uncertainty, share failures, and ask for help create environments where teams feel safe to speak up, innovate, and take calculated risks.
Practical Application: Start meetings with a personal check-in, share your own challenges, and explicitly invite dissenting opinions.
Rather than grand gestures, trust builds through consistent small behaviours. Brown's BRAVING framework (Boundaries, Reliability, Accountability, Vault, Integrity, Non-judgment, Generosity) provides leaders with specific actions to build trust daily.
Practical Application: Follow through on small commitments, protect confidential information, and assume positive intent when team members make mistakes.
Brown's research shows that change initiatives fail when leaders don't address the emotional component. By acknowledging fears and uncertainties whilst maintaining clear direction, leaders can guide teams through transformation more effectively.
Brown holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work and is a Professor of Practice in Management at UT Austin's McCombs School of Business. Her leadership research spans:
Vulnerability and Performance: Teams led by vulnerable leaders show:
Trust and Business Outcomes: Organisations with high-trust cultures experience:
In an era of social media perfectionism and corporate scandals, Brown's call for authentic leadership addresses a genuine hunger for realness. Leaders report feeling exhausted by maintaining facades and appreciate permission to be human.
With disruption accelerating across industries, organisations need cultures that embrace failure as learning. Brown's vulnerability-based approach creates the psychological safety necessary for innovation.
Remote work and digital communication have created a connection crisis. Leaders using Brown's principles of empathy and authentic engagement report stronger team bonds and better retention.
Morning Reflection: Start each day by identifying your emotional state and any armour you might be wearing.
Team Check-ins: Begin meetings by asking, "What do you need from me to do your best work?"
Feedback Framework: Use Brown's formula: "The story I'm making up is..." to share concerns without accusation.
Values Integration: Move beyond posters to identify specific behaviours that demonstrate company values.
Psychological Safety Audits: Regularly assess whether team members feel safe to speak up, make mistakes, and ask for help.
Leadership Development: Train managers in Brown's four skill sets rather than traditional command-and-control methods.
Industry Resistance: Some sectors still view vulnerability as weakness, requiring careful navigation and gradual culture change.
Time Investment: Building trust and addressing emotions requires more upfront time than directive leadership.
Personal Discomfort: Many leaders struggle with their own vulnerability, requiring ongoing self-work.
Start Small: Begin with low-risk vulnerability like admitting knowledge gaps in safe settings.
Measure Impact: Track engagement, retention, and innovation metrics to demonstrate business value.
Find Allies: Connect with other leaders implementing similar approaches for support and shared learning.
Silicon Valley companies like Google and Facebook have embraced vulnerability-based leadership, with executives sharing failures openly and creating psychological safety protocols.
Medical leaders use Brown's principles to address burnout and improve patient safety by encouraging staff to report errors without fear.
Traditional industries are slowly adopting these approaches, with JPMorgan Chase and others investing in empathy training for managers.
AI and Human Skills: As artificial intelligence handles routine tasks, uniquely human capabilities like empathy and authentic connection become more valuable.
Generation Z Expectations: Younger workers explicitly seek authentic leadership and purpose-driven organisations.
Crisis Leadership: Global challenges require leaders who can navigate uncertainty with transparency and resilience.
Daring leadership involves showing up with courage, being vulnerable when necessary, and leading with your whole heart. It's the opposite of "armoured leadership" where leaders protect themselves through perfectionism, control, and emotional distance. Daring leaders embrace uncertainty and create cultures where brave work and tough conversations are normalised.
Vulnerability demonstrates courage because it involves uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. When leaders are vulnerable—admitting mistakes, asking for help, or sharing uncertainties—they model authenticity and create psychological safety. This encourages team members to take risks, share ideas, and learn from failures.
Brown's research identifies four teachable leadership skill sets: Rumbling with Vulnerability (engaging in difficult conversations), Living into Our Values (translating ideals into behaviours), Braving Trust (building trust through specific actions), and Learning to Rise (developing resilience and bouncing back from setbacks).
Trust builds through small, consistent actions rather than grand gestures. Brown's BRAVING framework outlines seven elements: maintaining Boundaries, being Reliable, staying Accountable, protecting the Vault (confidentiality), acting with Integrity, practicing Non-judgment, and showing Generosity in assumptions about others.
Yes, though implementation may require more gradual culture change. Even traditional sectors like finance and manufacturing benefit from psychological safety, clear communication, and trust-building. The key is adapting the approach to industry norms whilst maintaining core principles.
Vulnerability involves appropriate self-disclosure that serves others and builds connection. Oversharing meets the speaker's needs rather than the listener's and often makes others uncomfortable. Effective leaders share challenges and uncertainties that help their teams navigate similar situations.
Track metrics like employee engagement, retention rates, innovation indicators, psychological safety surveys, and 360-degree feedback scores. Many organisations also measure trust levels, collaboration effectiveness, and the quality of difficult conversations.
Brené Brown's leadership quotes provide a research-backed roadmap for leading with both strength and humanity in an increasingly complex world. Her insights challenge traditional leadership models whilst offering practical tools for building trust, fostering innovation, and creating cultures where people thrive.
As workplaces continue evolving, leaders who embrace vulnerability, courage, and authentic connection will be best positioned to navigate uncertainty, inspire teams, and drive sustainable success. The question isn't whether you can afford to be vulnerable as a leader—it's whether you can afford not to be.
Brown's work reminds us that leadership isn't about having all the answers; it's about having the courage to ask the right questions, embrace uncertainty, and show up authentically for the people we serve. In a world hungry for genuine connection and purpose, these qualities aren't just nice-to-have—they're essential for leadership effectiveness.
Ready to transform your leadership? Start with one quote that resonates with you and commit to putting it into practice this week. As Brown reminds us, "Courage is contagious"—your willingness to lead with vulnerability will inspire others to do the same.