Navigate Courage

Book excerpt: Navigating Courage: Leading Beyond Fear follows the leadership journey of Dr.Robin Martin, a first-generation college graduate whose career illustrates the personal and professional risks that lurk behind every opportunity afforded women of color in the workplace. On the surface, Dr. Martin was living the dream. She emerged from a childhood in public housing as a college basketball star who turned her talents to coaching and then to leading athletic programs around the country. She earned her doctoral degree and was elevated to one of the highest academic administration positions in a large, public, urban, research-intensive university. In Navigating Courage: Leading Beyond Fear, Dr. Martin speaks truth to power by bearing witness to failed systems and the pains they inflict. More than that, though, she also illuminates a path for academics and professionals of color who dare aspire, as she continues to do, to build true equity in and around institutions where it is both seriously lacking and essential. Finally, this book and journal package provides inspiration, challenges, and guiding questions to help leaders develop and own their courage so that they can lead beyond their fears.