“I always bring my core values to feedback conversations. I specifically bring courage, which means that I don’t choose comfort over being respectful and honest—choosing politeness over respect is not respectful.”
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
“While shame is highly correlated with addiction, violence, aggression, depression, eating disorders, and bullying, guilt is negatively correlated with these outcomes. Empathy and values live in the contours of guilt, which is why it’s a powerful and socially adaptive emotion. When we apologize for something we’ve done, make amends, or change a behavior that doesn’t align with our values, guilt—not shame—is most often the driving force.”
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
“If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I’m not interested in or open to your feedback. There are a million cheap seats in the world today filled with people who will never be brave with their lives but who will spend every ounce of energy they have hurling advice and judgment at those who dare greatly. Their only contributions are criticism, cynicism, and fearmongering. If you’re criticizing from a place where you’re not also putting yourself on the line, I’m not interested in what you have to say.”
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
“In our political chaos, people throw around the word shameless when they see someone make a self-serving or unethical decision, and attributing unconscionable behavior to a lack of shame. This is wrong and dangerous. Shame isn’t the cure, it’s the cause. Don’t let what looks like a bloated ego and narcissism fool you into thinking there’s a lack of shame. Shame and fear are almost always driving that unethical behavior. We’re now seeing that shame often fuels narcissistic behavior. In fact, I define narcissism as the shame-based fear of being ordinary.”
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
“Shame is not a compass for moral behavior. It’s much more likely to drive destructive, hurtful, immoral, and self-aggrandizing behavior than it is to heal it. Why? Because where shame exists, empathy is almost always absent. That’s what makes shame dangerous. The opposite of experiencing shame is experiencing empathy. The behavior that many of us find so egregious today is more about people being empathyless, not shameless.”
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
― Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
Jessica’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Jessica’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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