Based on the work of best-selling author Parker Palmer and his Center for Courage & Renewal, this exploration of the inner life of leadership shows how to become a better leader by orienting yourself, your life, and your work toward greater courage, wholeness, and integrity.
Shelly L. Francis has been the Marketing & Communications
Director at the Center for Courage & Renewal since mid-2012. Before
coming to Courage & Renewal, Shelly was the director of trade
marketing and publicity for multi-media publisher Sounds True,
Inc.
The Center for Courage & Renewal, founded in 1997 by Parker
J. Palmer, has a network of over 250 facilitators mainly in the
United States, Canada, and Australia and followers worldwide. More
than 5,000 people participate in various Courage & Renewal programs
and retreats each year.
"Shelly Francis has written a beautiful and important book. Of all
the requisite virtues of conscious leaders, courage is one of the
most essential--the courage to do what is needed to promote human
flourishing and growth and the courage to withstand the inevitable
pressures to conform to business-as-usual and to treat people as
disposable and interchangeable objects. This book is the finest
treatment I know of this vital subject."
--Raj Sisodia, F. W. Olin Distinguished Professor of Global
Business, Babson College, and cofounder and Chairman Emeritus,
Conscious Capitalism Inc. "Our culture and our planet are in
crisis. Not shying away from this truth requires courage. Stopping
the rat race we are all caught in to discern how we are called to
respond requires courage. Acting on that knowing requires courage.
How come the word 'courage' is almost completely absent from
leadership literature, then? Perhaps because we too often reduce
leadership to becoming successful and making it to the top. I'm
relieved to find a book that holds us to a higher standard and
offers guidance as we wonder: in these peculiar times, how can we
find the courage to live the life that wants to be lived through
us?"
--Frederic Laloux, author of Reinventing Organizations "For many
years, the Center for Courage & Renewal has been preparing us for
this 'post-truth' era when courageous action is demanded from
leaders who care about people and planet. We need leaders who put
service over self, who know what they stand for and stand there. We
need leaders who are committed to serving people, who recognize
what is being lost in the haste to dominate, ignore, and abuse the
human spirit. I am deeply grateful for this book as a guide and
support for moral leadership as we face the darkening future."
--Margaret Wheatley, author of nine books including, most recently,
Who Do We Choose to Be? "This is the book that won't claim to
change your life, which is exactly why you can trust that it
probably will. What you will find in these pages is no less than
the technology to tune into your true self--your real intuitions
and outrage and intelligence--and a sense of how to show up in
community with that revitalized understanding of your own power. In
a cacophonous world like the one we're living in, I can think of no
more critical or renewing opportunity."
--Courtney E. Martin, author of The New Better Off "The Courage
Way gives us a much-needed social technology for
self-expression and authentic relationships. With intimate
leadership stories, it shows how integrating purpose and
cultivating community can be a powerful catalyst for change."
--Aaron Hurst, author of The Purpose Economy and Fast Company's
Purposeful CEO Series; cofounder and CEO, Imperative; and founder
of the Taproot Foundation "Leading with integrity and empathy
requires vision and a connection to your deepest self. Yet leading
people and businesses also requires immense effort and dedication
that can isolate you, exhaust you, and even pull you away from your
vision and deep connection. Enter The Courage Way, which offers
tools, stories, and ideas to help you cultivate your vision and
your ability to lead with courage, kindness, humor, and dignity.
Shelly Francis illuminates the work of Parker J. Palmer with wit
and grace."
--Karla McLaren, M.Ed, author of The Language of Emotions and The
Art of Empathy "In this troubled world today, we need to check our
moral preferences as leaders and commit to what we value and will
defend. In healthcare, I have learned that the secret to quality is
love. It is also justice, which is the manifestation of love in our
public policies and conduct. The Courage Way offers stories
and practices of how the hearts of leaders can stay connected with
their moral compass and courage. It shows that what we create
collectively arises from the wholeness and compassion we locate
within."
--Donald M. Berwick, MD, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow,
Institute for Healthcare Improvement; former Administrator of the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services "At a time when civil
discourse reflects a lack of trust in leadership and when the
integrity of our leaders seems in doubt, Shelly Francis offers us a
path to renewal. Her insights into cultivating courage through
daily practice provide a much-needed guide to authentic leadership
aimed at prosperity and flourishing. Essential reading in today's
world!"
--Chris Laszlo, PhD, Chair and Chuck Fowler Professor of Business
as an Agent of World Benefit, Department of Organizational
Behavior, Weatherhead School of Management; Faculty Executive
Director, The Fowler Center, Case Western Reserve University; and
coauthor (with Judy Sorum Brown) of Flourishing Enterprise "The
Courage Way will nourish that part of you that cares deeply
about the world. A soulful approach for helping you harness your
inner strength to become the kind of leader the world needs now--in
every dimension of your life."
--Jono Fisher, founder of WakeUpProject.com "Everyone should read
this book. The Courage Way is a powerful tonic for our
challenging times. Keep it close at hand so you can savor its
life-giving music again and again."
--Dr. Gloria J. Burgess, distinguished scholar, professor of
transformational leadership, and author of Dare to Wear Your Soul
on the Outside, Pass It On!, and Flawless Leadership "The
Courage Way forever expands the way we think about courage,
bringing its many manifestations to life and proving that acts of
courage, whether physical, moral, creative, or otherwise, have
their seeds within each and every one of us. The poignant stories
that Shelly Francis shares make the heroic qualities of courage
more understandable and accessible than ever before. This would be
an important book at any time, but at this moment, when America is
divided and hurting, it illuminates the courage within that
promises a way through. Read and re-energize!"
--Billy Shore, founder and CEO, Share Our Strength, and author of
The Cathedral Within and The Imaginations of Unreasonable Men "This
is an important read for leaders at all levels. I am inspired by
the promise and potential of leaders and organizations as forces
for good, and this has never been more important in the world.
The Courage Way shares time-tested tools, reflections, and
guiding principles that every leader can learn and practice. This
can move leaders and their organizations toward flourishing through
creating human-centered cultures guided by strong ethics and
integrity."
--Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for Healthy Minds,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, and coauthor (with Daniel Goleman)
of Altered Traits "The Courage Way by Shelly Francis is a
wonderfully written book for all those who wish to lead their
personal and professional lives in alignment with what truly
matters. Happiness is unthinkable without courage, yet until now,
little has been written about how to muster this great virtue. The
book is a must-have resource --inspiring!
--Andrea F. Polard, PsyD, founder of Zen Psychology Therapy and
author of A Unified Theory of Happiness "What would you do with
more courage? From that first provocative question to the last
story of people learning to lead and live in deeper alignment with
themselves, The Courage Way is a surprising and
counterintuitive remedy for the heart-sore. My calling is to sit
with those whose hearts have been broken open by their calling, by
their deep desire to live life in synchronicity with their truest
values, beliefs, wishes, and dreams. The Courage Way offers
a way to do that gently, yet it fiercely offers ways forward.
Shelly Francis and the Center for Courage & Renewal have again
demonstrated their ability to lead each of us into a new way of
being."
--Jerry Colonna, Co-founder and CEO of Reboot.io
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