What if the thing standing between your team and their best performance isn’t a lack of skill? It’s fear. Not the run-from-a-burning-building kind of fear, but the quiet, everyday fear of speaking up in a meeting, raising your hand for a new project, or having a difficult conversation with a colleague.
In this episode of the Build a Vibrant Culture Podcast, I sat down with Jill Schulman, US Marine Corps veteran, keynote speaker, positive psychology expert, and author of The Bravery Effect, to talk about what bravery really means in the workplace and how leaders can build bravery and lead with courage using the science of bravery.
What Is Bravery, Really?
Most people think bravery is reserved for Navy SEALs or firefighters. Jill is here to tell you that’s simply not true.
Drawing from the research of Dr. Cynthia Pury at Clemson University, Jill defines bravery as “voluntary action, despite fear, moving toward or in service of a noble or worthwhile goal.”
Notice what’s in that definition: fear. Bravery doesn’t mean the absence of fear. It means taking action in spite of it. As Jill puts it, “If you’re not scared, you’re not being brave.”
And the fear that holds most of us back in the workplace isn’t physical. It’s social. It’s the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, the fear of admitting a mistake, and yes, the fear of speaking up in a meeting. These are the moments that quietly shape careers and cultures, one avoided risk at a time.
The Bravery Effect at Work
Here’s a simple thought experiment Jill walks through in her book and on stages around the country.
Imagine two employees. Both have a great idea in a meeting. Person A speaks up. Their idea gets noticed. They volunteer for a project, get the promotion, and build momentum. Person B stays quiet; not once, but again and again, always waiting for the right moment, always choosing comfort over courage.
Over time, those small daily choices create wildly different career trajectories. That’s what Jill calls The Bravery Effect. It’s the compounding impact of everyday courageous action on your performance, your influence, and your career.
As a leader, this matters to you. Because your team is full of Person B’s who have great ideas and real potential, but who are waiting for permission or for the fear to go away. Spoiler: it won’t. But you can build a culture where they act anyway.
Three Keys to Building Your Bravery Muscle
Jill’s framework draws from three areas of psychology: cognitive, behavioral, and social. Here’s how they translate into practical leadership and culture work.
1. Develop the Brave Mindset
Before anyone can act bravely, they have to believe it’s possible. This is where Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset becomes essential. People with a fixed mindset: “I’m just not a leader, I’m not good at this.” They don’t even try. People with a growth mindset believe that effort leads to development, which opens the door to action.
Jill’s simple reframe: add the word yet. “I’m not ready to lead a team” becomes “I’m not ready to lead a team yet.” That one word shifts the entire conversation from closed to open.
She also draws on the research of Alia Crum and others on stress mindset. A three-minute video intervention that reframes stress as the body prepares to perform produced statistically significant improvements in job performance, resilience, and satisfaction. The mindset that we hold about challenges shapes how we respond to them.
2. Take Bold Action (Don’t Wait to Feel Ready)
This is where most people get stuck. They wait until they feel confident. However, confidence doesn’t come first. Action does.
Jill points to Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy research: You build confidence by taking steps, not by thinking about taking steps. Bandura’s famous snake phobia study showed that patients didn’t overcome their fear by talking about snakes. They overcame their fear by gradually, consistently moving toward the snakes. The same principle applies to every workplace fear.
The behavioral prescription? Don’t wait until you feel ready. Be biased toward action. Take the uncomfortable step. Do it even when it’s scary. Do it especially when it’s scary.
Jill also pulls from Roy Baumeister’s research on cognitive resources: our mental energy is like a battery that drains throughout the day. That means the brave thing or the hard thing needs to happen first, before your battery runs low. Her Marine-born mantra: attack the day.
3. Curate Courageous Connections
Bravery doesn’t happen in isolation. The people around you either pull you toward growth or keep you comfortable. Jill calls this building your “brave tribe.” Intentionally surround yourself with people who have done the hard thing you want to do, and who will encourage you to keep going when you want to quit.
The word encourage is worth unpacking. It literally means to put courage in. Your tribe doesn’t just cheer you on. They normalize the struggle, share their own failures, and give you the evidence that the hard thing is survivable and worth doing.
Jill’s own story is a masterclass in this. When she was struggling to write her book, a conversation with mentor Ken Blanchard (yes, that Ken Blanchard) normalized her writer’s block and gave her a practical tip (dictation) that unlocked the whole project. And she almost didn’t send her manuscript to Marty Seligman, the father of positive psychology, because she thought that he’d be too busy to care. She sent it anyway. He replied within hours. He’d read the whole thing by Sunday morning.
The lesson: The people you think are out of your league are often the most generous with their time. But you have to be brave enough to reach out.
Bravery Is a Skill, Not a Personality Trait
One of the most important things Jill said in our conversation is that bravery is not bravado. It’s not about being reckless or proving a point. It’s about finding the edge of your discomfort and the zone where growth lives.
And it’s available to everyone. Functional MRI research shows that the brain actually changes when you consistently step into discomfort. The prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex rewire over time. It doesn’t get easier, but you do get stronger.
Think of it like the gym. You don’t walk in on day one and lift 200 pounds. You start where you are, you go a little further than feels comfortable, and you do it again. The muscle builds. Bravery works exactly the same way.
The Nugget: Run Toward the Fear
I asked Jill to leave us with one thing. This was it:
“When you feel the fear, don’t run away from it. Run toward it.”
Fear is not a stop sign. It’s a signal pointing you directly at the thing that matters most, the growth that’s waiting, the version of yourself that’s possible. When you feel it, that’s the moment to move forward, not back.
Want to Build a Braver Team and Culture?
Jill Schulman’s book The Bravery Effect is available wherever books are sold. Connect with her at jillschulman.com.
If you’re ready to build a vibrant, high-performing culture in your own organization, I’d love to talk. Explore our leadership training, coaching, and speaking services here at vibrantculture.com or reach out directly at [email protected].
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