Fearless Fridays has been taking place on the Vermont campus, with a dial in option for Texas and remote workers for most sessions, since March of this year.
Born out of the Brené Brown Dare to Lead book talk that Allison Steinmetz (Corporate Communications) and Elizabeth Waring (Strategy and Business Transformation) led from December 2018 – February 2019, the participants involved in Fearless Fridays have created a safe space where they are not afraid to discuss sticky topics. This is exactly why Fearless Fridays exists.
Why Fearless Fridays?
As the book talk was drawing to a close, participants expressed an interest in it, or something similar, continuing. Allison said, “Both Elizabeth and I felt passionately that to be true leaders, we needed to be willing to step down from the traditional leadership platform too, in order to give others the opportunity to step up, dare greatly, and lead.”
Since its inception in March, there have been sessions ranging from TED talks to watching Brené Brown’s Netflix Special The Call to Courage to Chakras/Yoga/Meditation to Mentoring and more.
Fearless Fridays draws a crowd.
Under the #WIN umbrella, an environment has been created that is a safe space in which all (both men and women) are welcome at the table. Attendees have joined from all levels of the company to dive deeply into learning and exploration.
Our logo, designed by Darryl Garland, was inspired by Brené Brown’s thoughts about being in the arena, based on a Theodore Roosevelt quote that inspired her. (See below!)
Anyone who wants to share their voice and bring a topic into the light is encouraged to sign up to do so. Past discussions have included practical topics like finessing your elevator speech and stickier topics like burnout, different treatment based on genders, and more.
“I’ve personally witnessed the transformation that has come from allowing our colleagues the opportunity to both speak and fully be heard, and it has been amazing to see,” said Allison.
Our Most Recent Session: Let’s Talk About Inclusion by Gabriela Balboa-Smith
Fearless Fridays participants engage in discussion about inclusion.
The most recent session on August 9th on Inclusion was a big hit – and it’s such an important topic. With encouragement from our CEO Mehran Assadi, Gabriela Balboa-Smith (CIG Training) boldly delivered a presentation called “It’s Time We Talk About Inclusion.”
During this session, Gabriela opened the floor for discussion and break out exercises on why inclusion is so important and how National Life can benefit from a more inclusive environment.
This session was very well attended and well received. By popular demand, Gabriela has offered to share this presentation with any team who feels they would benefit. Interested in having Gabriela talk about inclusion with your team? Reach out to her via email today.
Gabriela Balboa-Smith leads a vibrant discussion on August 9th.
Our Next Session: Goal Setting and Accountability Partners with Elizabeth Waring
We hope you’ll consider joining us at our next session on Friday, August 23rd. Elizabeth Waring will be facilitating a session on Goal Setting.
During this session, participants will have time to journal and reflect on the individual results from the Brene Brown Daring Leadership Assessment.
**Note: Please complete this Daring Leadership Assessment in advance of the session, and bring your results to the session.**
Journal pages will be provided to take your results to the next level and move into goal setting.
From there, your goal will be matched with someone’s in the group with a like goal, pairing you with an accountability partner to help motivate you to reach your goal and make steps – however small – to get there.
Interested in learning more about what’s coming up? Our summer schedule (including Zoom dial in information for all sessions) is here.
Cheers to being fearless! Can’t wait to see you!
