BookYol

Concept

Armoured Leadership

Armoured leadership is Brené Brown's name, in Dare to Lead, for the self-protective habits leaders reach for when they feel exposed, such as needing to be the knower, hiding behind cynicism or treating exhaustion as a status symbol, set against the daring leadership that replaces each one.

Brown's premise is that the obstacle to brave leadership is not a lack of courage but the armour we wear to avoid feeling vulnerable. She describes it in pairs. Being a knower who must be right, against being a learner who wants to get it right. Cynicism, against clarity, kindness and hope. Rewarding exhaustion and tying worth to productivity, against supporting rest and recovery. Power over people, against power shared with them. The armoured version is what most of us do when tired or threatened, and teams copy it: a leader who must have every answer soon hears no questions. Brown's practical advice is to know our own two or three pieces well enough to catch them early, and to ask a trusted colleague to name the ones we miss. The pairs are an organising device drawn from interviews, not a validated instrument.

A real-life example

The head of a customer-service centre in Denizli answers every question in team meetings before anyone else can. Naming 'the knower' as her armour, she asks the newest agent for the hardest customer complaint of the week and waits for the answer. The agent describes a billing error that no one had escalated.

How to use it

  1. 1Name your two or three pieces of armour and ask a colleague whether you missed one.
  2. 2In a meeting where you would normally answer first, ask the question first.
  3. 3Notice which of your defences the team has copied.