How Courage and Capacity Grow in the Presence of Others

There are many ways to grow as a leader. Developmental leadership groups with peers can be one of the most powerful. Here’s what happens:

You tell the truth more honestly than usual. Someone else takes a risk they normally avoid. You show up for other people and call them forward with compassion and courage. Defenses drop. Empathy and laughter join forces. The room gets way braver.

Courage is Contagious

Human beings often become more courageous and more capable in the presence of others willing to grow alongside them and hold them accountable in a caring, honest way.

You can see it in recovery communities where people stay sober together, in elite military teams that learn collectively after failure, and in leadership groups where one person’s honesty gives everyone else permission to stop pretending.

The Amare Leadership Lab is a small, trusted circle for leaders who want more than advice. It is a place to challenge and support each other honestly, grow alongside thoughtful peers, and become more courageous and capable together. Learn more at amareleadership.com/amare-leadership-lab or reach out directly to Moshe at moshe@amareleadership.com .

Instant Thought Experiment — Do This Now

Think about a group experience that genuinely changed you. Not just informed you. Really changed you. What specifically happened there that could not have happened alone?

Different Tools, Different Purposes

One-on-one coaching can create extraordinary breakthroughs through focused attention and individualized support. Networking groups and professional associations have value too by creating important connections and learning opportunities.

Developmental groups create a different kind of growth. A leader hears someone say out loud the exact fear they thought only they carried. Someone watches another person take a difficult risk and realizes they can do the same.

The Power of Not Doing Leadership Alone

In one Amare Leadership Lab group, a participant admitted, “I thought I was the only one struggling with this.” That acknowledgment of the universality of human leadership challenges got everyone’s heads nodding. Another spoke to the richness of how people showed up: “I didn’t expect this much laughter. Or this much truth.”

Assessing if a Developmental Group is Right For You

✔ You learn a lot by listening to other people’s experiences, struggles, and breakthroughs.

✔ You’re open to being challenged in real time by peers instead of only reflecting in private.

✔ You want accountability that comes from relationship and community, not just personal discipline.

✔ You’re willing to let other people see parts of your leadership that are still evolving.

✔ You’re ready to contribute to other people’s growth too, not only focus on your own.

If you have three or more yeses, it’s probably worth exploring. Here’s info on the Leadership Lab groups I lead. amareleadership.com/amare-leadership-lab

Mirror — Questions to Ask Yourself

༄ Who helps you become more courageous and capable?

༄ Where in your life do people challenge you honestly while still being fully for you?

༄ Are your professional relationships mostly transactional or developmental?

Door Into Action — 5 Amare Ways to Grow Together

1. Join one group where growth is the purpose. Find a group built around honesty, challenge, reflection, and accountability rather than networking alone.

2. Answer one question more honestly than usual. The next time someone asks how you’re really doing as a leader, give a slightly more real answer.

3. Ask another leader what they’re actively working on. Skip advice initially. Stay curious longer. Let them know you hear them.

4. Share one challenge before you’ve fully solved it. Practice bringing something unfinished instead of waiting until everything looks polished.

5. Tell someone what courage you see in them. Call forward growth, risk-taking, honesty, or leadership capacity when you genuinely notice it.

Amare Team Talk

At your next leadership meeting, reclaim ten minutes from updates, metrics, and slides no one will miss.

Ask each person: “What’s one leadership challenge you’re actively working on right now?” Give everyone two uninterrupted minutes.

No fixing. No coaching. No jumping in with “Here’s what worked for me.”

Just listen. Then notice what happens when people feel safe enough to grow in front of each other

The Inspirational Challenge, The Human Challenge

Leadership culture often rewards self-sufficiency. Have the answer. Stay composed. Push through. Handle it yourself.

Yet many of the qualities leaders want most — courage, perspective, resilience, honesty, self-awareness — grow faster in healthy relationships with other people.

And in a world filled with nonstop interaction but very few places where people can actually grow together, leaders who engage in those environments may become not only more effective, but more fully human too.

The right group doesn’t reduce individual strength. It expands it.

–Moshe

Today’s Amare Wave Wednesday Quote

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

—Ken Blanchard, American Author, Speaker, and Consultant

Click here and read more Amare Wave Wednesday newsletters on related topics:

Make Everything Feed Your Mission & Vision: Aligning Your Organization for Impact

The Smart Leader’s Team-Building Shortcut? Fun Strategic Retreats

How Clear Expectations and Accountability Fuel Organizational Success: Start With These 6 Steps

Thriving Even When the World is Upside Down: A Guide to Personal Resilience for Today’s Leaders

Three Simple Ways to Be a More Courageous Leader

   

Original article published on Inc.com.