#Courageous conversations exercises free

Their higher level of testosterone, a hormone that seems to correlate with uninhibited behavior, may also lead to a more risk-oriented lifestyle. Type T individuals may have fewer dopamine receptors in their brains to record sensations of pleasure and satisfaction and as such, may require higher levels of stimulant and endorphin activity in order to feel good. The regions of the brain that determined decision-making and self-control had a thinner cortex, the brain’s wrinkled outer layer or “gray matter.”

The brain structures of these sensation-seeking people seem be somewhat different from the brain structures of people who avoid risks. Research in neuroscience shows that some people have a thrill-seeking or “ Type T” personality. Nature certainly plays a role in determining who has courage. He had clearly thought carefully about what the right thing to do in the circumstances would be, and he had found the courage to act on his conclusions in the face of opposition and difficulties.īut what was it that made him courageous? Was he always courageous or did he learn to be? This is not an easy question to answer, because courage, like personality, is a product of both nature and nurture, of both the individual and her society, of both the person and the situation. Here, was a relatively timid, rather anxious CEO who had been brave enough to take actions that a number of his shareholders had disagreed with. He admitted that at the onset of the crisis he had been “set on a quite different path” but that he managed to “find the courage to do what was right.” He ended the email by saying that “the response from my people because of these actions has been humbling.” Further Reading He was very proud of the fact that in a few days the top executive team, supported by other employees of the company, had successfully raised a substantial amount of money for that purpose. In addition, he had offered credit to all of his suppliers that were in trouble and, with the help of his top team, he also arranged an airlift of personal protective equipment for the hospitals closely located to the company’s main premises. That was why, he told me, that in spite of the serious financial implications and the opposition of some of his key shareholders, he had made the decision not to furlough anybody and had asked his senior executives to take a reduction in salary, in exchange for shares that would be bought back at a later date by the company at the issue price.

One of my former students, the CEO of a large, diversified industrial company recently sent me an email to say that he believed “the pandemic was the moment to show the people in the company that management really cared.” To get all of HBR’s content delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Daily Alert newsletter.

#Courageous conversations exercises free

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