The First-Time Leader book by George Bradt and Gillian Davis begins with a discussion of taking charge of your new team and then tracks through BRAVE leadership components from the outside in.
- BRAVE is a leadership framework that helps first-time leaders successfully build their team by uniting them around a shared purpose.
The term reflects an acronym that stands for behaviors, relationships, attitudes, values and environment.
Carefully considering and analyzing each component will help first-time leaders discover this shared purpose and incorporate it into the company’s larger strategy and their team’s implementation of same.
Specifically, the book defines the five components as:
- Behaviors – The actions that make real lasting impact on others.
- Relationships – The heart of leadership. If you can’t connect, you can’t lead.
- Attitudes – Encompassing strategic, posture, and culture choices around how to win.
- Values – The bedrock of a high performing team. Get clear on what really matters.
- Environment – Setting the context for everything else by understanding where you are playing.
The book teaches readers the “how-to's” related to the five components:
- Environment: setting the context for everything else by understanding where you are playing.
- Values: the bedrock of a high performing team. Get clear on what really matters and why.
- Attitude: encompassing strategic, posture, and culture choices around how to win
- Relationships: the heart of leadership. If you can’t connect, you can’t lead.
- Behaviors: the actions that make real lasting impact on others.
First-Time Leader is, as the title aptly describes, for first time leaders, explains Bradt.
“It is relevant for anyone delegating responsibilities within a team and for those taking on direct reports for the first time. With that said, there are many non-traditional leadership situations where this book would also be helpful, such as when experienced professionals start a new division and must build a team to support it. The book is also relevant for start-up owners that are expanding.”
