On this episode of The Courage Hotline — The Courage To Take Up Space — I’m lending a hand to a professional who’s having a hard time demonstrating personal agency, particularly when engaging with authority figures. 

Key Moments

1. [2:29] Personal agency is your own power and responsibility over your thoughts, feelings, and actions.
2. [4:33] Power has the ability to separate and something about that separation can often feel threatening.
3. [5:14] Our judgment gets pretty cloudy when we can’t activate our ability to manage our emotions.
4. [5:30] Rational thinking is needed for risk-taking.
5. [5:37] When we are overcome or overwhelmed by our emotions, we can be in an emotional state that inhibits us from questioning our assumptions.
6. [9:26] Courage is conjured – every time we need it, we have to conjure it.
7. [10:46] The goal is not to be courageous all the time. The goal is to be courageous for the right reason.
8. [12:58] We can lower down the stakes by asking questions of yourself and the person you’re talking to because questions break down assumptions.
9. [15:57] A question is not a declaration. It’s an invitation to dialogue.
10. [19:45] When you detach from the outcome itself, you actually allow more space for you to be open and move and to face uncertainty and challenge in a much more calm way.

Mentions

Own Your Brilliance Retreat: The Own Your Brilliance Weekend Retreat is an intimate and immersive experience to help young professional Black women conjure the courage to show up, step up and speak up at work — without apprehension or apology. It’s time to stop playing games with your potential.  If you’re interested in attending or sponsoring a participant, click here now! 

Personal Agency – Article published by ScienceDirect | Clinical Psychology Review 2020

Submit Your Question to the Show

Do you need courage to take up space? Take the courage to set boundaries? Step into a new leadership role? Walk away from a relationship?

Submit your situation to The Courage Hotline podcast and let me help you. It’s simple. Record a voice memo on your phone and email it to info@candacedoby.com. And, you may be featured on the next episode.

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