There’s a commonly held belief that leadership courage is a trait that you either have or you don’t. That only the most rarefied few have what it takes to rally people around them to press ahead and meet the uncertainty - or adversity - that stands before them.

But what if courage is not a rare trait, but instead something every leader can exemplify in everyday moments?

In this episode of "Leadership Biz Cafe," I speak with Alex Budak, award-winning UC Berkeley faculty member and author of "Becoming a Changemaker", about his Harvard Business Review article where he describes the six forms of everyday courage leaders can develop to successfully drive change and lead their organization through periods of adversity.

And a quick note here that this will be the last episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe” for 2025 as I’m taking a break for the month of December.

But I’ll be back in January 2026 with more guests, more Leadership Espresso Shots, and more insights on how you can succeed and grow in your leadership role.

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It seems there's not a lot everyone can agree on these days … except maybe how hard it can be to feel optimistic about things. After all, optimism is something reserved for when things are going well, not something we should expect during periods of uncertainty and disruptive change.

But what if our thinking about optimism is all wrong?

In this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share a story from the life of an incredibly successful leader who faced a period of uncertainty much like we're experiencing now, the only difference is that his company was on the verge of bankruptcy.

But it’s what he did next that reveals a powerful lesson for how we should view optimism, especially during periods of uncertainty if we want to ensure we can continue to succeed and grow in the years to come.

I’ve shared this story in some of my leadership keynotes and I can tell you it really does help to inform and re-energize our understanding of what we can and should be doing to effectively lead our team through the fog of uncertainty and change.

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Workplace conflict has doubled since 2008, with over a third of employees dealing with it constantly. But what if the solution isn't eliminating conflict, but transforming it into opportunities for connection and understanding, if not also increasing our own self-awareness?

In this episode of "Leadership Biz Cafe," Karin Hurt and David Dye, founders of Let's Grow Leaders and authors of "Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Workplace Conflict," share their proven framework for turning destructive conflict into constructive conversations.

You'll discover the four dimensions of constructive conflict, learn the 12 GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) powerful phrases that actually work to transforming conflict into connection, and gain practical strategies for handling everything from workplace bullies to passive-aggressive colleagues to overwhelming workloads.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.