The Courage Playbook

Praise for Gus Lee's earlier, Courage: The Backbone of Leadership

"Gus Lee, in this well-written and useful book, demystifies courage and reveals what it is made of: integrity, competence, and good judgment."

-Warren Bennis
Distinguished Professor of Business, University of Southern California, Founder, Modern Leadership Development

"When it comes to leadership, Gus Lee has walked the walk and talked the talk. Now, in his latest book, he offers all of us, who call ourselves leaders, a primer on how to gain and maintain in ourselves and our organizations that critical element that makes the difference: courage!"

-H. Norman Schwarzkopf
General, US Army (Ret.)

Praise for The Courage Playbook: 5 Steps to Overcome Your Fears and Become Your Best self

"Gus Lee, who is not only very smart but also has an abundance of common sense, has written a terrific book about a perennial problem facing all of us: developing the courage to conquer our fears."

-John J. Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison
Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago

"Gus's training changed my life. He uses courage to shape us 'weeble wobbles'-and to help us stand firm even after we wobble and get knocked down, time and time again. The tools and concepts provided in The Courage Playbook challenged my approach to leading and communicating, by not just understanding and assessing my own courage but also by identifying practical applications of courageous behaviors. As Gus writes, 'courage is more action than abstraction and is more behavioral than theoretical.' As a combat veteran, entrepreneur, and business executive, I didn't need to think more about courageous actions; I needed to act more courageously and more quickly. Through The Courage Playbook, Gus personally coached me, provided me tremendous insights on myself, and empowered and encouraged me with practical ways to live the first of human qualities."

-Chris Miller
SVP Flippen Group, West Point Class of 1998, Operation Iraqi Freedom

"Meeting Gus Lee changed my life; his book will change yours. The Courage Playbook is a 5-alarm wake-up call to self-awareness, recognizing we control how we show up for others each day. We choose cowardice or courage in all our interactions-just getting along, or really getting it right. Gus's Leaders of Character, LOC Biography Form 5 inventory was my jump-start in understanding the painful truth of my lack of 'real' courage. Yet, I was not left lost, without a way forward. Gus provides the roadmap and all the GPS tools necessary for navigating the difficult terrain in becoming one's best self-a true person of courage."

-Joe LeBoeuf, PhD
COL, US Army, Retired Former Academy Professor, USMA; Professor of the Practice Emeritus, Duke University

"The Courage Playbook's practical tools are universal game-changers. From the time Gus Lee was my mentor at West Point he has helped me and others in evaluating and forming ethical solutions for those who desire to be the best they can be. The Third Step helped me stop reactions to fear that I'd retained in a career that demanded courageous leadership and physical bravery as an Air Cavalry combat leader in Vietnam. The Courage Playbook's comprehensive tool sets have enhanced my life, especially in a profound respect for others, no matter race, religion or sexual preference. It's improved my relationships in my community, and I will continue to use it to constantly improve my character and quality of life."

-William Malkemes
COL, US Army (Ret.)

"The Courage Playbook's focus on practice, not theory, was essential to my ability to transition from a performance-based junior executive to a growth-based chief executive. The concept of UPR is easy but doing it every day takes a lot of practice. I used the 10-week UPR Behavioral Practice continuously to value and develop every member of my organization. Every quarter I spent 10 weeks going down the checklist. Then I spent the last three weeks of the quarter personally praising every member for their contribution. That's how you build a high-performance company with little employee turnover."

-Steve Wilson
Founder and CEO of an INC 500 Company

"We took Gus's advice to heart as my team took action and developed leadership rules to live by and demonstrate courage to build trust. By remembering that courage is an expression of caring, we overcame the barriers to sharing feedback and hitting hard issues head-on. In the business world we face tough issues every day, and by remembering to approach interactions and address shortcomings from a position of caring, we learn to be courageous. The Courage Playbook's tools provide the guide for putting high core values into action and cementing them into our behaviors at work and at home. I am constantly reminded of the lessons I learned from Courage, and when I know I am facing an untenable situation I prepare myself, dig deep, take a big gulp and leap across that river of fear. I am pleased to share that I have yet to drown but learned at times of my shortcomings and succeeded beyond my expectations with others."

-Jena Holtberg-Benge
General Manager, John Deere Reman

"Yes Kids, Try This at Home. Forty years working with community leaders taught me about courage. The Courage Playbook helped me bring that skill home to confront fear and change avoidant behavior. Using the skills-practice based approach, the skills themselves, and 'memory cards,' I replaced my contempt for incompetence with 'Unconditional Positive Respect' and resolved a long-running dispute with a global company in two days. Then, I answered the question: 'What does my husband most want me to change?'-so we stopped yelling at each other, and a frustrating home improvement project was finished in a night. The skill, courage, is easy to understand yet hard to do. With The Courage Playbook I am deploying it where it is most needed, at home.

-Jolie Bain Pillsbury, PhD
Author of Results Based Facilitation and Theory of Aligned Contributions

"The Courage Playbook is not for those who only want to talk about courage. If you want to do the hard work of developing courage from the inside out, there's no other tool like it. I frequently face situations that require courage. This book was a great encouragement to me to stay the course and not give into fear. The Courage Playbook will lead you step by step from fear to fearless."

-Eric Bolger
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, College of the Ozarks

"As a career soldier, I was often amazed by senior officers who would risk injury or even death in service to our nation, while also demonstrating an aversion for doing anything that might risk their careers. In this context, Gus Lee appropriately cites Mark Twain's observation, 'It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.' I recommend The Courage Playbook to everyone in or desiring to be in a leadership position. It teaches you the right thing to do and how to do it. It is invaluable in learning to lead the toughest of all followers: yourself."

-Gilbert S. Harper
Brigadier General, US Army (Ret.)

"Kudos to Gus Lee for his amazing Playbook. I found his remarkable Step One assessment tool helped me identify that childhood relationships with parents and siblings can distort adult relationships. Identifying this 'baggage,' I was able to more fully listen to others and use his Courageous Communication tools. This has helped me enormously in patient care and made my personal relationships more rewarding. The CourCom tools help me see how internalized fears and anger result in disrespecting others and so shatter the trust and cooperation we all need for successful and rewarding collaboration with others."

-Mary M. Zhu, MD, PhD, MPH, MA

"The Courage Playbook finds me in a place in life where continuation of old comfortable habits and behaviors is untenable and counterproductive both professionally and personally. Fear, avoidance, and laziness of thought and execution have been my life's Achilles' heel. The Courage Playbook shines a bright and painful light on the effects of these mental and behavioral choices, calling them out but at the same time offering carefully drawn self-directed offers for change with clear instruction on how to use them and move forward toward self-mastery. The work is often painful, but in the words of someone who knows there is some pain, the gain is significantly more. By its design, it requires one to go through the fire to separate from old painful mind habits and move toward more life-affirming and supportive choices. Of all the projects, classes, 12-step programs and therapy sessions, The Courage Playbook is the most complete and compressive framework moving me towards a better version of myself. With gratitude and deep respect, I give my thanks to Gus Lee for having provided me the...