What if courage isn’t something you’re born with, but something you can build?
In this thought-provoking episode of FOMO Sapiens, Patrick McGinnis sits down with Ranjay Gulati, a Harvard Business School professor and author of How to Be Bold, to challenge the myths we hold about courage.
Ranjay explains that courage isn’t the absence of fear—it’s action in the face of fear. From corporate boardrooms to extreme leadership in crises, he shows how individuals and organizations can move past analysis paralysis and embrace bold decisions, even when the path ahead is uncertain.
Through powerful stories, including the Fukushima Daini plant manager who led with improvisation in crisis and the Antarctic expeditions of Ernest Shackleton, Ranjay illustrates why courage is collective, not individual. He also breaks down the “four pillars of support” that enable people and teams to act boldly, and how leaders can build cultures of resilience through sense-making, narrative, and identity fusion.
If you’ve ever wondered how to step into uncertainty with confidence—or how to lead others to do the same—this conversation is both practical and inspiring.
Ranjay Gulati is the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration and a distinguished organizational sociologist. He is the author of several books, including Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies (HarperCollins, 2022) and How to Be Bold: The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage (Harper Business, 2025).
His pathbreaking research, which focuses on unlocking organizational potential and unleashing human potential, has shown how winning companies—those that prosper both in good times and bad—drive growth and prosperity. At the same time, his research has inspired individuals to unlock possibilities by aligning their own personal purpose with that of their organizations.
The Economist, the Financial Times, and the Economist Intelligence Unit have listed him as among the top handful of business school scholars whose work is most relevant to management practice. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his scholarly research and teaching, including recognition by Thinkers50 as a top management scholar and the CK Prahalad Award for Scholarly Impact on Practice in 2024.
Professor Gulati holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and lives in Newton, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children.
For media and speaking requests, and to suggest a guest for the show, please email letsconnect@patrickmcginnis.com.
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