The BRAVE Leader: Next Steps
When I first wrote The BRAVE Leader, I wasn’t simply documenting a leadership model, I was making a call. A call for a different kind of leadership rooted not in performance theatre or empty slogans, but in Boldness, Resilience, Agility, Vision, and Ethics.
Since then, what began as a framework has grown into something more dynamic, a conversation, a community, a compass for those willing to lead with conviction in uncertain times.
As I look to the next phase, I want to take a moment to map the terrain we've already covered and where we’re headed next.
Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of delivering group programmes built around the BRAVE pillars. These have supported
Senior executives and founders navigating change.
Emerging leaders stepping into responsibility with clarity and courage.
Cross-sector cohorts in education, tech, finance, non-profits, and sustainability who seek alignment between personal values and professional decisions.
Clients have included the likes of Google, Shopify, Meta, HSBC, Tate and Lyle and a host of others who were willing to partner with us to realise how inclusive leadership could work in the real world. And even though there has been pushback in some quarters on the framing of inclusive leadership, we still press on, because there remains a strong belief in the vision behind it.
The group experiences for these clients have been designed not as lectures, but as labs, spaces for inquiry, stretch, accountability, and strategy. Leaders enter with curiosity and sometimes hesitancy but emerge not just with knowledge, but with a sharper internal compass and a practical toolkit.
Some of the most powerful moments in these sessions don’t happen during presentations, but they happen in the silences between questions, the heat of disagreement, or the vulnerability of realisation. That’s the essence of what we now call Brave Conversations.
These are facilitated dialogues that invite participants to explore:
The real reasons we fear change.
How power operates in our organisations and lives.
What it means to speak up, especially when the stakes are high.
They’ve taken place in boardrooms, classrooms, and virtual spaces alike. And every time, they remind me, bravery is contagious.
As part of scaling BRAVE offering across organisations, mainly corporate, I developed two supplementary pathways:
The Brave Sponsor.
A focused programme to support those in formal leadership positions to sponsor emerging talent more intentionally, using BRAVE principles. Not just those from underrepresented backgrounds but getting senior leaders to think more about why they sponsor. This initiative is about moving beyond mentorship into transformational sponsorship, backing people with your power, not just your praise.The Brave Board.
This pathway has seen me work with teams to get them to think more about their recruitment and retention of board members. Also enjoy strategic advisory simulation, where leaders learn to make courageous decisions under pressure. Participants take on fictional board roles to resolve real-world dilemmas with integrity as the throughline.
These aren’t side quests. They are integral to creating ecosystems of bravery in organisations, where psychological safety, decisiveness, and values-driven leadership aren’t optional—they’re cultural norms.
For all the success we’ve had in private, it’s time to open the doors. In the coming year, I’ll be launching a series of virtual courses for the wider public.
These will be for anyone. Team leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, activists or any flavour of leadership that wants to build the muscles of modern bravery. Expect masterclasses, workshops, and speaker panels on:
Navigating ethical dilemmas
Resilience in burnout culture
Leading when you’re the only one in the room
Speaking truth to power with skill and grace
They’ll take place online, with a focus on accessibility, reflection, and action. And we exploring in-person events.
The question I keep returning to is this
What if the BRAVE Leader wasn’t just a model or a course, but a movement?
To that end, I’m exploring the development of The BRAVE LOUNGE. A community blending digital and in-person space for continued learning, collaboration, and support.
Here’s what this community could hold
A resource library of tools, case studies, and reflection prompts
Monthly BRAVE Sessions for practice and exchange
A facilitator and coach certification pathway for those who want to teach and spread this work
Special community-only events, labs, and meetups across sectors
I envision it as a leadership guild of sorts people committed to brave work in an unbrave world.
Invitation
If you’ve ever felt called to lead with more boldness…
If you’ve struggled to stay resilient when systems push against your values…
If you’ve sensed that being visionary means being vulnerable…
Then you’re already part of this story.
The BRAVE Leader has always been about more than a single voice.
Now it’s about all of us rehearsing a better future, one bold step at a time.
