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Dare to Lead with Brené Brown

Brené with Adam Grant and Simon Sinek on What's Happening at Work, Part 1 of 2

43 min episode · 2 min read
·

Episode

43 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Career Growth, Health & Wellness, Investing

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • Leadership perception gap: Deloitte research shows 84% of C-suite executives believe employee mental well-being is excellent or good, while only 60% of employees report this, revealing leaders significantly underestimate how much their teams are struggling post-pandemic.
  • Toxic genius problem: High-performing employees who undermine others require immediate assessment for coachability. Organizations must redefine performance to include impact on teammates, not just individual metrics. Keeping uncoachable toxic performers creates systemic damage regardless of their individual output numbers.
  • Values operationalization failure: Only 11% of companies translate their stated values into observable behaviors, and zero percent include these behaviors in performance evaluations. Without measuring collaborative behaviors like knowledge sharing and mentoring alongside individual results, organizations cannot build true team performance.
  • Navy SEAL selection principle: The military rejects star athletes and preening leaders who prioritize individual achievement. Those who succeed can dig deep when exhausted to help the person beside them. Businesses misapply high-performing team stories by trying to create individual superstars instead.

What It Covers

Brené Brown, Adam Grant, and Simon Sinek examine workplace challenges post-pandemic, including the great resignation, employee mental health gaps, toxic high performers, and the disconnect between human-centered leadership values and traditional performance systems.

Key Questions Answered

  • Leadership perception gap: Deloitte research shows 84% of C-suite executives believe employee mental well-being is excellent or good, while only 60% of employees report this, revealing leaders significantly underestimate how much their teams are struggling post-pandemic.
  • Toxic genius problem: High-performing employees who undermine others require immediate assessment for coachability. Organizations must redefine performance to include impact on teammates, not just individual metrics. Keeping uncoachable toxic performers creates systemic damage regardless of their individual output numbers.
  • Values operationalization failure: Only 11% of companies translate their stated values into observable behaviors, and zero percent include these behaviors in performance evaluations. Without measuring collaborative behaviors like knowledge sharing and mentoring alongside individual results, organizations cannot build true team performance.
  • Navy SEAL selection principle: The military rejects star athletes and preening leaders who prioritize individual achievement. Those who succeed can dig deep when exhausted to help the person beside them. Businesses misapply high-performing team stories by trying to create individual superstars instead.

Notable Moment

Sinek realizes organizations take research about high-performing teams like Navy SEALs and astronauts, then mistakenly try to build high-performing individuals rather than replicating the team-first sacrifice and service orientation that actually drives elite group performance.

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Episode Transcript

Hi, everyone. I'm Brene Brown, and this is Dare to Lead. And I've got such a fun episode for y'all, for us. Guess who's here? Simon Sinek and Adam Grant. I had this idea. I was like, the three of us need to just take turns being on each other's podcast, kind of no prep. What are you seeing? What's going on? What are you worried about? What are you calling bullshit on? Just, like, what's going on? And it turned out to be just a two part conversation that was so much fun filled with so many no. No. No. No. I don't think that's right. Oh, yeah. Maybe that is right. Oh, dang. I'm changing my mind. You are right. I'm glad you're here. They're just two back to back, really fun episodes, so much learning. I mean, I had my mind changed so much more than I change anyone's mind, which I was going in, like, I'm gonna talk them into thinking this is true because I think it's true. And I was like, oh, I think I'm wrong, which, of course, you know Adam. The power of knowing what you don't know. Adam was in his mind changing happy place. So welcome to Dare to Lead. Glad you're here. It's such a good conversation. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start? Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin, or what that clunking sound from your dryer is? With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates, and read reviews all on the app. Download today. Support for this show comes from Odoo. Running a business is hard enough. So why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odoo. It's the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that makes your work easier. CRM, accounting, inventory, e commerce and more. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you? Try Odoo for free at odoo.com. That's odoo.com. Before we get started, let me tell you a little bit about our friends that are on today. So Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist. He rethinks how people lead, work, and live. He's been Wharton's top rated professor for seven straight years, and his pioneering research has inspired people to rethink assumptions about motivation, generosity, and creativity. He is the number one New York Times best selling author of five books that have sold billions of copies, most recently. And, oh, I I don't like to pick a favorite, but, god, did I really love Think Again, The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know. Such a great book. His TED Talks …

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