Every so often I spend some time organizing personal files and run across an interesting note I’ve captured reading a book or article. I found these few bullet points I had jotted down while going through Dare to Lead that I found so useful, and surprisingly pertinent to my career as a UX Design Leader. Highly recommend this book, it’s worth the time for any young professional looking to lead people effectively.

Key takeaways:

• What stands in the way, becomes the way.

• Don’t avoid tough conversations putting politeness over clarity.

• Focus more on scary feelings that arise with change. 

• Don’t focus on problematic behaviors.

• Connection & empathy builds trust.

• Embrace failures and risks.

• Focus more time on fixing what broke, not on reassuring people–they are ‘still’ valuable.

• Focus on accountability & learning, not shame & blame.

• Stay dedicated to problem identification. 

• Don’t rush to big blind swings.

• Be measurable.

• Strive for progress not perfectionism.