The Courage Within Us: Profiles In Disruption, 7 Essential Character Traits For Today's Crazy World

What are the most crucial character traits necessary in the age of continuous disruption? How do you lead people when everyone’s To Do list goes kaflooey before they’ve had their first cup of coffee? How do you train and develop people so they can cope with the craziness?

The Courage Within Us not only identifies the essential traits and virtues needed, it reassures and motivates every reader. You already have what it takes. You do not need more than what’s already inside you. You just need to unleash it, practice it.

Author Bill Jensen uncovered these these traits by going direct to the source — the very people causing those disruptions. 100 great disruptive heroes: CEOs, inventors and scientists, entrepreneurs and freedom fighters, firefighters and doctors, geeks and a couple of freaks ... masters of disruptive innovation and change. Disruptive because they simply refuse to accept the status quo. Heroes because they are changing the rules of the game. Great because they are helping each of us change for the better.

From these heroes, he uncovered seven essential traits:
• Choose Your Parents Wisely
• Become a Global Citizen, Now!
• Be Insanely Curious
• Blow Stuff Up!
• Trust Your Values, Trust Your Gut
• Practice Failure As an Extreme Sport
• Start With Lemonade Stands and Never Stop

These traits come to life through each hero’s stories… A father’s entrepreneuring spirit passed on to his daughter… A child learning about life and how systems work in the barrios of Caracas, Venezeula… The psychologist who de-radicalized young boys after they had been indoctrinated into the Taliban… The film producer who made two of the highest-grossing films in history.

The Courage Within Us has a companion book, Disrupt! Think Epic. Be Epic. In Disrupt!, Jensen covers the How Tos of disruption: 25 successful habits for an extremely disruptive world. Both books are powerful on their own… Together: Everything you need to be a disruptive hero!

Editorial Reviews: “A wonderful guide for sanity within insanity! Disruptions will happen anyway… Bill Jensen shows us how to cause them instead of being their victim!” — Marshall Goldsmith, the world’s top executive coach, author of Mojo

“Don’t disrupt anything you’re not willing to be disrupted by. Deep personal change goes with the territory. That’s the profound takeway from this next Mr. Simplicity classic. That takes serious courage. Here in Silicon Valley and everywhere.” — Chris Ernst, Organizational Effectivess Thought Leader, Juniper Networks, and author, Boundary Spanning Leadership

About the Author: Bill Jensen makes it easier to do great work. Bill is today's foremost expert on work complexity and cutting through clutter to what really matters. He has spent the past two decades studying how work gets done. (Much of what he's found horrifies him.) He is an internationally-acclaimed author and speaker who is known for provocative ideas, extremely useful content, and his passion for making it easier for everyone to work smarter, not harder. He is CEO of The Jensen Group, a change consulting firm he founded in 1985. Bill's personal life fantasy is to bicycle around the globe via breweries.