Author: WE ARE BRAVE

Why values need to lived not laminated.

Posted on by WE ARE BRAVE

Let’s start with an honesty moment: many company values often get designed in silo, written, framed, and then sadly forgotten. 

They can sit on websites, desktop backgrounds and office walls which look great but when things get messy — a tough decision , a tempting shortcut, a moment where profit whispers in your ear louder than the principle — that’s when values actually matter and when they should be dialled up, not down. 

Here’s the thing: your company values aren’t there for when things are easy. Sure, they help keep people on the straight and narrow and doing the right thing but values are more important than that. They have a hidden agenda. They’re also supposed to be your compass when the whole map is on fire! 

Sticking to them means you’re building something that lasts. Not just in terms of reputation, but in a culture people want to be part of. It plays a part in how you attract the right talent, the right clients, and how you earn the kind of respect that can’t be bought with a set of generic values. 

This doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sometimes, it might cost you work. You might lose a deal because you didn’t bend. You might walk away from a partnership that didn’t feel right. 

“If your values are real, and lived, not just laminated, they’ll always guide you through the tough times“

At We Are BRAVE we’re incredibly lucky to have never needed to do this with a client, but sticking to our values means we did step away from Meta and Instagram because their style and behaviours just didn’t match with ours anymore. 

Every time you choose integrity over convenience, you’re actually investing in trust, and trust is the currency that actually compounds. So we want to remind you, don’t treat your values like a checklist, or something that only lives on a website or a team room poster. 

Instead, treat them like your company backbone. If they’re really real, and if they’re lived, not laminated, they’ll guide you through the tough times and keep your company human, relatable and most importantly, trusted. 

You can learn more about the We Are BRAVE values by clicking here. We use a mnemonic to make them extra easy to remember and implement. 

R – Reliable 

E – Energising 

B – Brave 

E – Extraordinary 

L – Leading 

The Importance of Relationship Building

Posted on by WE ARE BRAVE

Whilst you might think this is a skill that is always on the top of business leaders lists, it’s been knocked off the top spot as the world of business has become engrossed in the implementation and application of AI.

It looks like that tide may be turning as LinkedIn’s recently published research ‘Skills on the Rise 2025’ shows Relationship Building has regained its place as the most in-demand skill in today’s workplace.

For many of us, there’s a quiet reassurance here as we may think the same thing, AI will never be able to replace the human skill of nurturing a relationship (for now at least!)

The list was cleverly created based on analysis of LinkedIn’s own data showing what line managers considered to be the skill they wanted to focus on the most to develop their workforce.

There are many elements to relationship building but we think the 4 key elements are; Respect, Communication. Trust & last but certainly not least, Compromise.

“In a world increasingly being run by algorithms, it’s authentic human connections that build trust, drive loyalty, and builds real relationships”

Respect for us means valuing each other’s opinions, feelings, boundaries, and having brave and challenging conversations. Add to that being able to demonstrate empathy and honouring differences whilst creating space for individuality within the relationship.

Communication in our brave world means being open, honest, and consistent always displaying active listening and emotional intelligence. A key for us is the ability to address both the big and the small topics in a way that builds trust.

Trust is a defining pillar in any relationship and one that needs to be earned. We believe you do this by building your own personal reliability through your actions and consistency. Throw into the mix developing psychological safety and fostering loyalty and mutual confidence.

Compromise is the glue that holds effective relationships together. Being able to meet halfway when priorities differ and being brave enough to disagree well and debate the idea not the person will help you succeed.  Learning to balance your own personal needs with the shared goals of the partnership takes practice but reaps rewards.

Our programs and standalone webinars cover many of the in-demand skills, and our C-Suite BRAVE events have relationship building at their core.

We’d love to talk to you about how we can help you build the skills your business needs to grow. Click the link below to drop us a line.

Rhi

Public speaking and leadership training – BRAVE

Leadership Styles Workbook

Posted on by WE ARE BRAVE

Use this guide to help you spot styles, self reflect and develop yourself and your teams.

Download your copy here:

LEADERSHIP STYLES BRAVE DOWNLOAD (1)Download

Are you and your business ready for The Right to Switch Off?

Posted on by WE ARE BRAVE

Way back in July 2024 the Labour Government committed to implement various Employment Law changes by the end of 2026. This is one of the most contentious that has got everyone talking. 

This bill is set to ensure that employees have the right to disconnect from work related communications such as emails and phone calls outside of their regular working hours without facing any negative consequences.

The aim is to create a policy that not only protects employees but nurtures a more committed and ultimately productive workforce. We’ve captured the highlights for you  

What is the ‘right to switch off’ bill?

Theres no doubt that flexible working has been beneficial for businesses, but this shift in working styles seen post pandemic has also blurred the lines between work and home life for employees. In some cases this has led to increased stress, longer working hours, and difficulties when disengaging from work.

The Government’s pledge here is aiming to balance the needs of employees by allowing them to create clear distinctions between work and home life. Whilst the policy provides protections for employees, it also aims to provide positives for employers too.

What does this mean for employers?

An employer, will have to comply with the new ‘right to switch off’ legislation when it arrives, both from a legal standpoint and of course for the well-being of employees. You’ll need to consider carefully how and when you contact your employees outside of set working times. You’ll also need to consider the ‘unwritten rules’ your business may have any any pressures employees might feel when contacted  

What are the implications of breaching the right to switch off?

Under the new policy, if you regularly contact an employee outside of their contracted hours, they may have the right to take a claim to an employment tribunal. This could result in the employee being awarded compensation for working overtime. They can use an infringement to the right to switch off bill to support their claim  

How will the ‘Right to Switch Off’ be implemented?

Whilst it’s still in the design stages with the UK Government we can share that several other countries have already introduced policies which allow employees to disconnect from work outside of structured hours.

One great example of this is Ireland. They’ve signed up to a voluntary code of practice where you develop a bespoke policy that suits your own business needs and respects employee rights.

There are three parts to the policy in Ireland:

  • The right to not work outside of operational hours on a regular basis
  • The right to not be penalised for refusing to complete tasks outside of these hours
  • A duty to respect other employees right to switch off, by not contacting them via phone or email

The UK is likely to follow a similar model, and this way means embracing a flexible code of practice allows businesses to make their policies fit the requirements of their own industries  

One thing to get right!

Implementing a code of practice around right to switch off will mean a very clear policy on what constitutes essential communication with employees, without this, you’ll be open to personal interpretation.

How can we help?

One thing that will go hand in hand with these changes is empowering your teams, at all levels, to recognise and implement boundaries. This helps you set out expectations and supports the communication of what is and isn’t appropriate. 

We can deliver Setting Workplace Boundaries face to face at a venue of your choice on online as a webinar.  

Setting Boundaries – BRAVEwearebrave.co.uk

10 Ways to Think Strategically

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You just need to think ‘BIGGER’

We’ve all heard this, but is it as easy as that? We think not.

Like any muscle, you need to use your thinking regularly in a new way to help it learn.

The words we usechoose to use each day are more powerful than we think.

Use our downloadable Ways to Think Strategically Guide to self reflect, top up your knowledge or create a learning moment with your team.

10 Ways to Think StrategicallyDownload

8 Phrases to Boost 🚀 your Credibility

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The words we usechoose to use each day are more powerful than we think.

Are the ones you’re using boosting your credibility or secretly sabotaging you?

Use our downloadable 8 Phrases to Boost your Credibility Guide to self reflect, top up your knowledge or create a learning moment with your team.

8 Phrases to Boost your CredibilityDownload

BRAVE Leader VS Toxic Leader

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When you work with a Toxic Leader, you might not see it at first, but when you do…

Use our downloadable BRAVE Leader VS Toxic Leader to help you spot the signs and then learn the right way to lead BRAVE.

Toxic Leader VS Brave LeaderDownload

Putting the Return in the ROI

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In an industry which lets face it, is driven by transformation, Learning & Development has always been the champion of growing potential. 

Whether it’s via nurturing talent, unlocking performance, or simply helping organisations adapt to an increasingly ever-shifting landscape. But in C-Suite and Board meetings across every sector there’s one metric that still causes raised eyebrows and big question:

What’s the return on investment?

Working as Strategic Partners 

We know it’s no longer enough to just deliver engaging workshops or beautiful eLearning platforms. Stakeholders want evidence. They want data. CFOs want figures. And rightly so! When budgets are in focus, the ability to demonstrate tangible impact along with real, measurable ROI can often be the difference between L&D being seen as a strategic partner or a “fluffy nice-to-have.”

Why this Matters?

At its core, ROI isn’t just about the numbers. We’re talking about people here. It’s about telling a narrative. It’s telling the story of how the learning intervention moved the dial, whatever that was. 

Whether it’s reducing turnover and enabling critical debate, or boosting engagement and decision making, by linking our initiatives to outcomes that matter to your business, we don’t ‘just’ justify the spend, we elevate the value of the learning itself.

What does this mean?

Our clients will often ask us to help people to be ‘better’ at having more challenging conversations. This is a great start and providing the skills and structure to do that is right up our street, but what does that mean for your objectives/goals/outcomes? What do you want to see as the change in your own bottom line? If people are having those conversations, how will you know it’s happening? 

These are some of the questions we’ll ask you up front, to help connect the investment you make to a tangible metric you’re looking to shift.

Moving from Intuition to Insight

We know this part can be a challenge. It’s always been a little ‘woolly’. Much of learning’s impact is often delayed, indirect, or simply tricky to capture. But that’s not a reason to avoid it, it’s a reason to get better at it. 

At We Are BRAVE we partner with you to design with clear KPIs in mind from the outset, using data to track behavioural shifts and embedding feedback loops. We turn your investment in us from a cost centre to a tangible change in behaviour and outcome. Building on the above example, we set out to review not just the change of skills on the course but also when they are back in their day-to-day roles. What is the line manager doing and seeing? What about their peers, are they seeing change? How has this shifted the approach within the team and with their other relationships?

Our magic is the Learning Diamond 💎

The initial conversations we’ll have with you after identifying the right metric, will identify the impact of the wider relationships on an individual’s ability to change their skills and behaviour after the course ends. The Learning Diamond makes this easy to follow, and likely engages and involves line managers, peers and senior level support focused on how they too can help or hinder this change? 

Why spend this time with us?

You want your people to show up with the skills and confidence to speak up, have braver conversations and ultimately make better decisions. We both want you to see return on investment. By spending the time answering our questions helps us to get you real, measurable change.

Got an issue you need to address and are not sure where to start? 

We’d love to talk to you. 

Understanding Leadership Styles

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Looking to better understand the different styles of leadership?

Look no further. This is what you need, and it’s free to download.

Use this alone, or with your teams, and if you want some more help, you know where to find us.

LEADERSHIP STYLES BRAVE DOWNLOADDownload

Dispelling the Top 3 Myths around Disagreement

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At We Are BRAVE disagreement is our thing. Crazy right..? Well, not when you know how to disagree well and make it your superpower. 

In this article I’ll dispel the top 3 myths on disagreement and introduce you to three pillars that can guide you to success. They are Structure, Discipline and Skill. 

But first, Why dispel the myths?

You don’t have to; there is always a choice. It could be that your current relationships and the level of discomfort you feel about disagreement means you can maintain a reasonable level of resilience in your work or personal life, but if that’s not working for you, keep reading. 

Myth Number 1. It’s better to have difficult conversations ‘in the moment’.

With this myth, we convince ourselves that having a conversation ‘in the moment’ is better and less stressful because it’s over and done with quickly – well, technically it is, but only for you. The problem is, it’s often not a repeatable or helpful conversation and so the stress level continues from conversation to conversation.

We’d suggest replacing this myth with Pillar 1 – Structure. Using this helps you speak up and disagree well in the moment. 

Myth Number 2. I can just wing it – I don’t need to prepare, I know what I need to say.

With this myth, we can congratulate ourselves a little on our approach because it can give us a short-term, but potentially false, sense of confidence. We feel brave, we know what we want to say and so away we go…

For this one you need Pillar 2 – Discipline. By learning to develop your own discipline to follow structure, control your EQ and be focused on resolution, not winning.

Myth Number 3.  We’ll fall out and it will damage our relationship so I just won’t address it.

With this myth, we can avoid the possible discomfort or upset by replacing the conversation with avoidance. We doacknowledge that this is a good short-term strategy to help you find the right time for a conversation, but as a long-term strategy, it will only increase stress levels.

The final Pillar 3 – Skill. It’s all about utilising your skill and we can teach you exactly how to do that on our training programs. 

These pillars are an introduction to our methodology. We use these simple tools to break through the myths around disagreement and increase your individual resilience within those conversations. It can feel empowering to know you can approach harder conversations with simple changes and who knows, maybe even learn to enjoy them!

In summary

In the short term, using these simple pillars to build small, repeatable steps into your routine gives you a strong foundation for braver conversations on topics you may have avoided.

In the long term, shifting your perspective and embracing well-formed disagreement will increase your ability to innovate into the future. 

Sara