The Naked Truth About Courage - Lessons From The Keynote Stage

As part of a documentary shoot, a woman named Françoise agreed to stand naked—eight months pregnant—in my living room. She didn’t know me. She didn’t know the project would work out. She just said yes.

I fumbled with lights and cameras, she stood there vulnerable but resolute. Watching her, I realised courage isn’t loud. It’s quiet. It’s uncomfortable. It’s saying yes to something risky because you believe in what it could become.

Resilience and change demand that same kind of naked courage. You don’t need certainty. You need willingness.

Often when I face something daunting now, I think of Françoise. Courage means standing in discomfort. But when you stand there anyway, you give others permission to be brave too.

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If we haven’t met yet…

I never considered myself good at change until I went from

Average shot → Army sniper

Home movies → National Geographic cameraman

Fumbling card tricks → Professional magician

Never swinging a hammer → Built a home

High school dropout → Published author

Business rookie → Sold a business

Stutterer → Motivational speaker

Turns out I know how to change and I know how to stand on stage & make audiences feel like they can do it too.

#change #leadership  #motivationalspeaker