Brene Brown Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Brene Brown is a University of Houston research professor with a Ph.D. in social work. She is the chair of the Brene Brown Endowed Huffington Foundation at the Graduate College of Social Work. Brown was born in San Antonio Texas to Casandra Deanne Rogers and Charles Arthur Brown. She spent much of her early years in New Orleans in Louisiana, was baptized in the Episcopal Church and then raised Catholic. She would leave the church and then come back almost two decades together with her husband and children. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelors in Social Work in 1995 and by 1996 she had completed her Master of Social Work. Brown then studied at the University Of Houston Graduate College Of Social Work where she got her Ph.D. in 2002. She currently lives in Houston, Texas with Steve Alley her husband and two children.

Brene started out at the University of Houston as a research professor in social work. Her research is focused on aspects of wholeheartedness and authentic leadership in organizations, schools, and families. She came into the limelight when she presented TED talks on Vulnerability in 2010 and 2012. Her 2012 talk “The Power of Vulnerability” has more than 40 million views making it one of the most viewed talks on the TED platform. She wrote the novel “Daring Greatly” in 2013 and in March of the same year she was on “Super Sunday” where she discussed the book with Oprah Winfrey. She got inspiration for the title of the book from “Citizenship in a Republic” the famous speech by Theodore Roosevelt. It is the speech that he gave on April 23, 1910, at the Sorbonne in Paris that is also known as “The Man in the Arena” speech. She is currently the chief executive officer of a certification and training program for “The Daring Way.” The organization works to help professionals interested in facilitating her work on empathy, shame, courage, and vulnerability. In April 2019 she filmed “The Call to Courage” special on Netflix, becoming the first person to film a talk on the streaming service.

Brene Brown has spent the past twenty years researching and teaching empathy, shame, and vulnerability. She is the author of five New York Times bestsellers in “Dare to Lead,” “Rising Strong,” “The Gifts of Imperfection,” “Braving the Wilderness,” and “Daring Greatly.” She believes that way to courage is through vulnerability and everyone has to become vulnerable if they want to grow even if it sucks. Her motto is “Courage over comfort,” and she has asserted that she tries to be grateful for every day she is alive. While she is spiritual, she does not mind praying at one time and cussing the next as she does not believe they ought to be mutually exclusive. One of the major things that she believes is that courage can not only be measured, and developed but it can also be taught. For Brene, courage is a combination of twenty-eight behaviors that help develop four skill sets. All one needs to develop it is to show up with a whole heart, have the tough conversations and do the bold work. While it may seem easy in theory, it is never easy choosing courage rather than the familiar and the comfortable. However, it is always worth it in the end as there are far too many advantages of courage over comfort.

“Braving the Wilderness” by Brene Brown is an important and timely new book that challenges everything we have held to be true about our culture, organizations, and communities. Brene sparks a conversation by asserting that we do not have to change who we are to acquire a true sense of belonging. To truly belong, we need to be who we are by bringing meaning to our lives through social experiences. Through experiences of empathy, shame, belonging, love, vulnerability, and courage, we can be truly who we are meant to be. Brene mixes in a ton of honesty, storytelling, and research to spark cultural conversations about the path to belonging. According to Brown, there is a spiritual crisis of disconnection in modern society. She asserts that true belonging is when we are ready to be part of something or stand alone when necessary. But in a culture full of people-pleasing, perfectionism and the erosion of civility, it can be tempting to fit in, hide in our ideological bunkers or stay quiet rather than brave the wilderness of criticism and certainty, which is inevitable when we are our true selves. Nonetheless, true belonging is not accomplished with others or negotiated but rather it is daily practice and a personal commitment from the heart. It requires courage and clarity in the face of the unpredictability of searching and solitude. However, while true belonging is a breathtaking and dangerous space, it is one of the most sacred and bravest spaces to get into.

In “Dare to Lead,” Brene Brown takes her research on the leadership of organizations ranging from Fortune 50 companies, civic organizations, nonprofits, family-owned businesses, and small entrepreneurial startups. The book asks the question how can you cultivate more daring and brave leaders who have the courage to do what needs to be done? Brene asserts that leadership is not about titles power over people or status, but rather about accountability. True leaders hold themselves accountable for recognizing, and developing the potential in ideas and in people. She says that daring to lead is not about pretending to have the right answers but asking the right questions and staying curious. Real leaders do not hoard power or see it as finite but know that it becomes infinite when it is aligned to accountability and authority and is shared. They do not avoid difficult situations and conversations, but lean into vulnerability, which is critical for doing exceptional work on ourselves. But the problem in modern society is defined by a culture of uncertainty, fear, and scarcity, which needs us to build uniquely human skills such as courage. The irony is that the contemporary organization is scrambling to find better value in machine which has led to less investment in the minds and hearts of leaders. However, human leaders will always offer courage, connection, and empathy better than any machine ever could.

“Rising Strong” is one of Brene Brown’s masterpieces though it is quite different from her other works. A much more personal book, Brown writes about vulnerability while providing tons of examples from her marriage and life in general to illustrate her assertions. The book discusses vulnerability as an essential element for moving forward in life. Brene argues that when it comes to workplace tension, interpersonal conflict or any other pain points in life emotion and vulnerability are critical to the resolution of such issues. She is straight forward in putting forth how people do fail at getting this right. Most people will typically avoid feeling it and instead act out hurt. They will try to guess what other people are feeling or thinking and then blame them, basically writing out a story for another person that may not exist. Brene talks of how some people may find it hard to ask for connection, which is a critical component of the healing process. This then results in the person becoming hidden and closed off that they assume keeps them safe even as it could not be any worse. The book asserts that empathy and compassion are infinite and reaching out costs nothing. In fact, practicing compassion and empathy typically means there is more of these qualities available for everyone rather than less.