The Sweeney Agency

About Dr. Brené Brown - Speaker on Communication and Leadership:

Dr. Brené Brown is a professor and vulnerability researcher at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Her current research focuses on authentic leadership and wholeheartedness in families, schools, and organizations. Because vulnerability is at the center of many thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, her research topics cover a broad range of emotions and experiences, including shame, courage, and authenticity.

To reduce our feelings of vulnerability, we wake up every morning, put on our game face, and rarely take it off - even at home. We use invulnerability as a shield to protect us from uncomfortable emotions and struggles with anxiety and self-doubt. But invulnerability has a price.

Vulnerability is indeed at the core of difficult emotions, but it is also the birthplace of authenticity, courage, joy, love, belonging, accountability, innovation, inspiration, creativity, and spirituality. When we avoid or shut down vulnerability, we lose access to the experiences that give purpose and meaning to our lives. If we want to change the way we live, love, parent, teach, lead organizations, and build communities, we have to start with a conversation about vulnerability - this is where our story begins.

Brené spent the first five years of her decade-long study focusing on shame and fear, and is now using that work to explore a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness. She poses the questions: How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy?

Brené has won numerous teaching awards, including the College’s Outstanding Faculty Award. In 2008, she was named Behavioral Health Scholar-in-Residence at the Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston. Brené’s work has been featured on PBS, NPR, and the Oprah and Friends Radio Network, and her articles have appeared in Self magazine, Elle magazine, and many national newspapers. She is also a frequent guest on radio shows across the US and she has given two TEDx talks on her vulnerability research. Most recently, Houston Women Magazine named her one of The 50 Most Influential Women of 2009.

Brené is the author of The Gifts of Imperfection: Letting Go of Who We Think We Should Be and Embracing Who We Are (Hazelden, 2010) and I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power (Penguin/Gotham, 2007). She is also the author of Connections, a psychoeducational shame resilience curriculum that is being facilitated across the nation by mental health and addiction professionals.

What Dr. Brené Brown Talks About:

The Inspirational Leader: Why Courage, Authenticity, and Calm Matter
From developing talent and connecting with consumers, to building brands and fostering innovative cultures, inspiration is critical. Inspirational leadership is not about job titles and roles – it’s a style of leadership available to anyone who is willing to practice courage in the midst of fear, to choose authenticity over self-protection, and to foster calm in times of high reactivity.

In this keynote, Dr. Brown will explore:
- The three primary components of inspirational leadership;
- The behaviors, emotions, and thoughts that sabotage inspiration; and
- Actionable strategies for practicing inspirational leadership.

The Power of Vulnerability
In our culture, vulnerability has become synonymous with weakness. We associate vulnerability with emotions like fear, shame, and scarcity; emotions that we don’t want to discuss, even when they profoundly affect the way we live, work, and even lead. To reduce our feelings of vulnerability, we wake up every morning, put on our game face, and rarely take it off – especially at the office. We use invulnerability as a shield to protect us from uncomfortable emotions and struggles with anxiety and self-doubt. But invulnerability has a price.

Vulnerability is indeed at the core of difficult emotions, but it is also the birthplace of: Creativity and innovation, authenticity, adaptability to change and accountability – the key elements that every business needs to survive and thrive. In this keynote, Dr. Brown will explore:
- The critical role vulnerability plays in our personal and professional success
- The five most common strategies we use to avoid and minimize vulnerability and how they move us away from our goals; and
- Five actionable strategies for leaning into our discomfort and embracing vulnerability as a source of strength and inspiration

Great Expectations: What Leaders and Managers Need to Understand about Goals
Setting, tracking, and celebrating goals are primary tasks in business; however, very few managers and leaders understand the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral anatomy of the goal process. Understanding the loaded dynamics of expectations, disappointments, and accomplishments gives us more tools for cultivating success with our own goals and becoming more effective mentors for our employees.

In this keynote/workshop, Dr. Brown will explore:
- The relationship between buy-in and the deeply human need for purpose and meaning;
- How fear, blame, and scarcity sabotage the goal process;
- Why hope, vulnerability, and self-compassion are prerequisites for success; and
- Actionable strategies for increasing goal achievement.

The Only Constant is Change: Developing Courage, Compassion and Connection in Overstressed and Anxious Organizations
For organizations to successfully navigate change, it is imperative that employees at all levels bring their best selves to work. But too often leaders and managers don’t know how to navigate the emotional landscape of change – especially the human response to stress, anxiety, and fear. Unknowingly, leadership often incites the exact behaviors that sabotage the creativity, trust, and accountability that are essential to managing change.

In this keynote/workshop, we will explore: The primary patterned methods for managing anxiety and how to use these as intervention tools; How fear and uncertainty can turn the best organizational cultures into shame and blame cultures and why courage, compassion, and connection are the best practices for strengthening culture during change; and Actionable strategies for cultivating a culture of courage, compassion, and connection in the midst of change.