Resources · Selected by Irina Somodi
The Courage
Library.
Books, research, podcasts, and talks for meeting fear, seeing more clearly, and acting with courage in life and work.
Not an exhaustive list. A living collection of ideas I return to, question, and recommend.
Start here
Five doors into the work.
If the full library feels like too much, begin with the question closest to what you are living now—and follow one thread at a time.
Immunity to Change
To see why wanting change and being able to make it are not the same thing.
02Emotional Agility
To work with difficult emotions without letting them make the decision for you.
03The Fearless Organization
To understand what allows people and teams to speak, learn, and take interpersonal risks.
04Dare to Disagree
To reconsider conflict as a source of better thinking rather than something to avoid.
05Re:Thinking with Adam Grant
To keep curiosity alive and practise changing your mind without losing your ground.
Explore the collection
Choose the lens you need.
Books
Longer journeys into the inner patterns, relationships, and organizational conditions that shape courageous action.
Robert Kegan & Lisa Laskow Lahey
Immunity to Change
A powerful way to uncover the hidden commitments and assumptions that can quietly resist the very change we say we want.
Deborah Gruenfeld, Ph.D.
Acting with Power
A thoughtful reframing of power as a responsibility we perform in relationship—not a personal quality we either have or lack.
Jennifer Garvey Berger
Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps
A practical guide to noticing the mental habits that feel useful but narrow our choices when complexity increases.
Amy C. Edmondson
The Fearless Organization
Essential reading on the conditions that make it possible for people to speak up, learn, experiment, and admit what they do not know.
Susan David
Emotional Agility
A compassionate, evidence-based approach to meeting difficult thoughts and emotions while continuing to act from your values.
Brené Brown
Dare to Lead
A practical invitation to choose courage over comfort and build the skills required for honest, human leadership.
Ronald A. Heifetz
Leadership Without Easy Answers
A foundational exploration of adaptive leadership—especially valuable when authority alone cannot solve the real challenge.
Articles & research
Ideas and evidence to help you recognize the patterns underneath resistance, uncertainty, and silence.
Susan David & Christina Congleton · HBR
Emotional Agility
A concise introduction to recognizing emotional patterns, holding thoughts more lightly, and choosing action from values.
Robert Kegan & Lisa Laskow Lahey · HBR
The Real Reason People Won’t Change
A classic explanation of why resistance may be driven by an unseen competing commitment rather than a lack of motivation.
David J. Snowden & Mary E. Boone · HBR
A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making
A useful lens for distinguishing clear, complicated, complex, and chaotic situations—and responding accordingly.
Amy Gallo · HBR
What Is Psychological Safety?
A clear, practical explanation of psychological safety and what it does—and does not—mean for teams.
Amy C. Edmondson · Administrative Science Quarterly
Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams
The foundational research connecting psychological safety with the learning behaviours teams need in uncertain environments.
Podcasts
Conversations for the walk, the drive, or the pause between one demanding moment and the next.
Adam Grant · TED Audio Collective
Re:Thinking with Adam Grant
Unexpected conversations that challenge assumptions about how we think, work, and relate to one another.
Harvard Business Review
HBR On Leadership
A focused collection of practical thinking on leadership choices, organizational life, and the human side of responsibility.
Shane Parrish
The Knowledge Project
Long-form conversations about clearer thinking, better decisions, and the mental models behind meaningful work.
Joel Monk
Coaches Rising
Rich conversations about human development, coaching, transformation, and the practices that support lasting change.
Talks
Shorter encounters with ideas that can change the quality of the next conversation or decision.
Susan David · TED
The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage
A compelling case for facing emotional truth with compassion rather than forcing positivity or avoiding discomfort.
Brené Brown · TED
The Power of Vulnerability
An enduring exploration of connection, shame, worthiness, and why vulnerability belongs inside any honest conversation about courage.
Amy C. Edmondson · TED
How to Turn a Group of Strangers into a Team
A practical look at teaming in fluid, uncertain conditions where trust and shared learning have to form quickly.
Margaret Heffernan · TED
Dare to Disagree
A reminder that useful disagreement is not the opposite of trust—it can be one of the ways trust becomes productive.
Margaret Heffernan · TED
The Dangers of Willful Blindness
A powerful examination of what people and systems choose not to see—and the courage required to speak up.
The Courage Reading Path · Coming soon
Four resources. Four questions. A place to begin.
The first Courage Notes collection will bring together one book, one article, one podcast, and one talk—each paired with a question for moving from avoidance to courageous action. Leave your details once subscriptions open, and it will arrive by email.
Continue the work