Brave Business: Living Dr Brené Browns principals with Anna Ranaldo from Collective Courage

Courage is a key ingredient of a business owning woman's toolkit. It's also the key message of American thought leader Dr. Brené Brown's work that has taught us the power of articulating our fears in order to be better humans and better leaders. Anna Ranaldo understands the concept of courage, leadership and the work of Dr. Brené Brown intimately. Anna is a certified Dare to Lead coach, one of Dr. Brown's representatives here in Australia. Her work coaches aspiring business leaders, cultivating courage with brave conversations. 

Can you please give us your best 30 second elevator pitch?

“First and foremost, I'm a mum to five and my heart work is really helping individuals and teams find their courage. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing people stretch into places that perhaps they didn't think was possible and finding the joy in that work.”

What has working with Dr. Brené Brown’s vision brought to your own sense of ambition as a business owning woman?

“The first thing that springs to mind is I can unequivocally say I wouldn't be running my own business if I hadn't had a fortuitous day when I took an 18 month old that would not sleep in a pram, into a bookstore. That pram bumped into a book stand that had Brené Brown's Daring Greatly on it.

I took that book home and I read it back to back, which in itself was some sort of miracle because I was so sleep deprived, I don't know how I managed to actually finish a book. But really, at that point in my life, I was a single parent. I was working in a pretty senior position in an organization with people I loved.

But my sense of what I really wanted to contribute and my autonomy and kind of courage to do that just wasn't there. I'd gone through a massive personal upheaval. So her work, particularly around cultivating courage was just so life changing for me. It gave me the courage to step out of that very comfortable, safe place with people I loved and move into extending my concept of leadership and courage and what it meant to make a difference to teams, companies and corporates.”

What are some of the things that you have had to stop doing in order to make running your business and being a mother work for you?

“I think my biggest challenge is twofold. One, I am ever the optimist, I always seem to have this kind of concept that I can fit more into a day than is humanly possible. Then I get to the end of the day and go, “oh my God, why am I like a grumpy, impatient mum?” Or “why do I feel so knackered?” So kind of knowing how to pace myself is part of my own challenge.

Secondly, I think the biggest thing I've had to start doing more of, which I find incredibly hard, still, is asking for help. We actually know that one of the myths of vulnerability, which has a big load into our capacity for courage, is this idea that it's safer to trust ourselves. It's better not to bother others. I would rather work myself to the bone than to invite in other expertise or other help. So for me, I grew up in a small farming community, and the beauty of that is we're, you know, pretty stock or beast farmers, we just get on with it.”

How would you describe the shape of a good life for you?

“That concept of harmony that just makes me think of the concept of being in flow. I know when I'm in flow when I'm aligned with my values, and one of those values is creativity and the other one is learning. It's working well when I'm kind of sparkly and creative and there's juices and new ideas flowing, I know that Triad is working.

Also, I have a bit more sense of calm. When I'm kind of hustling and pushing and maybe the ambition has kind of got a bit more of my energy than it should, maybe that's not quite balanced. I tend to hustle, I talk faster, I walk faster, and I tend to be pushing versus engaging or slowing down long enough to wait for the space to emerge.”

Want to know more about how Anna Ranaldo can help you excel in business through courageous conversations?

Looking to build great foundations to lead and inspire your team in your business? Wondering how the concepts of vulnerability and courage are key elements of business? Are you thinking about scaling your business but are feeling blocked by your mindset? ‍

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