Ranjay Gulati

We role model it.

We penalize some things and we recognize some things.

So how do we create a context in which courage is not only recognized but cherished and encouraged?

And learning to be bold is something that we not only tolerate but we actually support.

And I tell you what context matters, like one of the companies I wrote a case study on, the leader, when he was going to change the organization, he said, somebody gave him advice and said, you can't turn sheep into wolves.

So he said, what do you mean?

He said, the advisor said, cull the sheep and hire some wolves.

And he disagreed with it vigorously.

And he said, I'm going to teach sheep to be wolves.

And he led this most incredible turnaround.

without laying off a single person.

The same organization, the bottom rated bank in Singapore, nicknamed from DBS, it was called damn bloody slow.

It was the worst rated bank to the number one bank in the world in 10 years.

And he said, without laying off anybody.

So he said, how do you change the context in which people, not to underappreciate how context shapes our behavior.

So those three chapters are really true for anybody thinking about what is the context you can create in which people will find the ability to act more courageously.

That's really what I was trying to get at there.

Now, for the individual, the question I should ask is, we should all opt and self-select to be in contexts that encourage courageous behavior.

If we want to be courageous.

You know, some organizations do not, others do.