Intro:

What happens when you get a group of small business owners together in one room for 2+ days and get them talking about vulnerabilities? You’d be surprised! Learn more about how MaryPat led this diverse group of people to reimagine what it means to be a leader and a business owner.

Core Issue:

Business owners are often afraid to share their fears, business problems, personal insecurities, and shortcomings because they often feel it makes them poor business owners and leaders. This is problematic as it adds unnecessary pressure to an already high-pressure profession. To further compound things, many business owners and leaders do not have colleagues or peers that they can readily talk about these issues with. Hence, business owners and leaders need new skills and knowledge to help them communicate and overcome fears and insecurities so that they can be more effective leaders.

Solution & Outcome:

MaryPat regularly hosts workshops teaching the Brené Brown “Dare to Lead” curriculum and is a Certified Dare to Lead Facilitator (CDTLF). Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and her latest book, Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership. The core of the Dare to Lead workshop is to share your vulnerabilities, embrace self-awareness & self-love, and to cultivate courageous cultures in our work and family environments. Led by MaryPat, the group of 8 gathered in a small, intimate setting and over the course of two and a half days, worked through the sometimes difficult, sometimes funny, and sometimes enlightening workshop sessions.

“Often, you will see that in these workshops, some attendees have an easier time opening up about their vulnerabilities as not just leaders, but also personal matters,” explains MaryPat. “But by the end of the first day, everyone has come around and the energy of the group really starts to transform. You see lightbulbs starting to go-off in people’s heads. They lean in. They lean into the work because they start to see how much this will help them.”

“I learned that wearing armor and pretending that I’m superhuman does not make me a good leader at my business. In fact, the opposite is true. If you are honest and cultivate positive, open workplaces – and home places – your business and team will flourish” – Liz Graham, Marketing & Communications Director, Mindful Littles, California

After the Dare to Lead workshop, business owners walked away with a better understanding of themselves, a tangible roadmap for how they can create lasting personal and professional change, and how they can foster positive and dynamic environments. All elements that are crucial for successful business leaders.

“The workshop completely changed the way I look at what it means, and takes, to be a “successful” business owner. I now have a completely new and usable set of tools that will make my life as a business owner much easier!” – Brandon Hill, Owner, Mountain Standard Time Marketing, Utah