If it only works at work, it doesn’t work
Yes, you can read that subject line again...
This week I had one of those pause-worthy moments.
I was on a call with Simon Sinek’s team, building content for a workshop we’re running for 100+ hospitality leaders navigating massive shifts and uncertainty.
As we mapped out The BRAVE® Framework —
Be Present. Rapport. Active Listening. Vulnerability. Empathy. —
and how to apply each step in real conversations, I was reminded of how impactful this work really is. (Even I forget to step back sometimes!)
Many of these leaders run generational businesses — meaning there’s no separation between their work life and family life, at all.
And it reminded me why I’ve been so passionate about the need for BRAVE® from the very beginning.
Because for any leader — for you — the conversations that matter most aren’t only happening in the boardroom or the Zoom room.
They’re also happening at home.
With partners. With children. With parents. With friends, siblings, and your wider community.
They're happening around dinner tables, on walks and over coffee. ☕️
Working with leaders in family-run businesses—where the lines between legacy and leadership blur (and “tricky” doesn’t even begin to describe the communication pickle they’re in) reminded me of something important.
That in this new world of work — where we’re always on, with email and Slack in our pockets and offices in our spare bedrooms —
we’re not so different from the family run businesses.
We’re in it — family, work, life — all the time. All at once.
Why BRAVE® Was Built Differently
None of us need another professional development tool or “type” we can only use in a work context.
For anything to become second nature, to become part of you and your leadership style, you have to use it daily, hourly, in every conversation.
Think about it.
Most leadership programs give you an assessment, a type, or a script.
You learn the Enneagram, DISC, or Kolbe at work… but you can’t practice it at home.
Your family isn’t taking it with you.
Your partner isn’t memorizing your number.
Your teenager isn’t referencing your type before dinner.
And even if they did — you’d still have to remember what everyone else’s type means and how to use it.
That’s not how real life works.
(PS This is why those tools flop with your team at work, too.)
For work to “work”,
We need development that transcends the office — a human development framework that elevates every interaction we have.
Because we don’t just want to bring our best self to work —
we want to bring our best self everywhere we are.
Hence, BRAVE®. Duh.
What Makes BRAVE® “Work”
BRAVE® was built so you can use the same framework at any table:
With your analyst.
With your boss.
With your peers.
With your CEO.
With your partner.
With your kids.
With your parents.
With the coach on the sideline or the cashier at the grocery store.
Because BRAVE® doesn’t just teach you how to lead — it elevates who you are in every context.
Proof?
It’s helped people get promotions and raises. And feedback like “your leadership has been next level,” “you seem to just make things work and rally everyone behind you,” “you have a way with people that makes leadership trust you with big projects.”
It’s helped sales teams unlock underperformance and hit record numbers—even in awful economic environments.
It’s helped scaling teams move at lightning speed, innovate, and execute while staying aligned and deeply connected.
It’s helped executives roll out full pay transparency across entire companies. (Holy wow!)
It’s kept couples together who were on the brink of divorce.
It’s helped others separate more peacefully than staying together would have allowed.
It’s given a single Dad a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with his daughter.
It helped an 8 year old how to stand up to bullying (he was in the same room as his Mom during our sessions)
It’s repaired relationships between mother and son.
It’s given leaders the confidence to go after the big, hairy, audacious goals that shape their future — and their relationship with themselves.
It’s guided families through transition and teams through chaos.
BRAVE® helps you rise — not just as a leader, but as a human.
Because when your language changes, your leadership follows.
And when your conversations change, your life does too.
Why It Matters Now
My hope since the beginning has always been that these tools transcend the boardroom table and make their way to the kitchen table. ☕️
And for so many of us now — whether you’re part of a generational company, a scaling startup, or just a human navigating the chaos of growth, uncertainty, and change (ahem… if you live on Earth right now) — those tables have already converged.
Whether you want to admit it or not.
You can’t compartmentalize work and life anymore.
You just get to be a human — and bring your self to all of it.
So why not have a way to build the muscle of your best self — in every single conversation you have?
Because your conversations are creating the culture you live in — right now — at work and at home.
And how you do one thing is how you do everything.
Bravely,
Elisabeth
