Watch James in Action
About James Detert
What does it take to speak up at work, and why do so many capable people stay silent? Jim Detert, an award-winning social scientist, has spent his career answering that question. The leading expert on workplace courage, he argues that the biggest obstacle is a myth. “We have to drop the myth that there's a personality type for courage. There is no such thing. Courage is simply the willingness to act despite fear.”
James's Keynote Topics
When it comes time to speak up at work and face potentially difficult interactions, the willingness to do so is only part of the equation. Being effective when speaking up is also critical, says Darden School of Business professor Jim Detert, Ph.D., using what he calls “competent courage.” In this insightful presentation, Detert draws on his book, “Choosing Courage,” to present frameworks for how to create the right conditions and capabilities to speak up effectively and have a positive impact on others. Using his customized assessments and learning tools – such as the Workplace Courage Acts Index and Courage Ladder – Detert is able to outline the skill set and actions that prepare people to effectively manage difficult interactions and follow up accordingly. Leaders will learn how to recognize traps, live their values, and be empowered to see competent courage as both specific instances handled skillfully, and ongoing actions taken to prepare for and move forward after courageous actions.
Organizations can’t effectively learn without honest input from employees. For workers to feel safe giving honest input, Darden School of Business professor Jim Detert, Ph.D., says it’s up to leaders to not just model the right behaviors but also to make structural, policy, and symbolic changes. In this engaging presentation, Detert shares his accessible framework that presents four strategies leaders can take to encourage employees to provide honest input and explains why leader behavior is the most important lever for improvement. Attendees will be able to put these strategies into action immediately and optimize organizational learning through open dialogue.
Is the courage to speak up at work an inborn trait that either you have, or you don’t? According to University of Virginia Darden School of Business professor Jim Detert, Ph.D., the skills required to be competently courageous can be developed by anyone through practice. In this revealing talk, Detert presents research-backed strategies for building courage – from the physical, like controlled breathing, to the mental, like cognitive reframing. By learning how to manage emotions, show credible empathy, speak with humility and defuel initial reactions, audiences will leave with practical strategies for speaking up and taking bold action when necessary – with confidence and without regret.
Books by James Detert
Articles by James Detert
The Agency to Implement Voice: How Target Hierarchical Position and Competence Changes the Relationship Between Voice and Individual Performance
2022Journal of Business EthicsSituational Moral Disengagement: Can the Effects of Self-Interest be Mitigated?
2013Administrative Science QuarterlyVoice Flows to and around Leaders: Understanding When Units Are Helped or Hurt by Employee Voice
2013Personnel PsychologyWhy Employees Do Bad Things: Moral Disengagement and Unethical Organizational Behavior
2012Academy of Management JournalImplicit Voice Theories: Taken-For-Granted Rules of Self-Censorship at Work (Award-Winning Research)
2011Academy of Management JournalLeadership Behavior and Employee Voice: Is the Door Really Open?
2007Jim Detert's Research
James in the Media
Why aren't there more courageous leaders?
Stop Making Hollow Apologies at Work
Fight Versus Flight: When a Leader’s Fears Turn Into Anger
Find Your Phrase in Important Moments
Are You an Undercover Jerk? These 6 Questions Will Tell You
Are You Being a Nice Jerk?
What You Still Can’t Say at Work
HBR’s Picks on Managing Social and Political Issues at Work
Leadership Development Is Failing Us. Here’s How to Fix It
Q&A: The Washington Commanders Sale Is Nearly Official. Now What?
How to Complain at Work the Right Way and Get Ahead
The Problem With "Quiet Quitting" and Other Buzzy Management Terms
How James Works with Organizations
Each engagement is built around your goals and audience.
01 · WORKSHOPCreate and Climb Your Courage Ladder
Everyone has a courage ladder, from feeling that a situation is slightly frightening at the bottom to truly terrifying at the top. The key to creating everyday courage is to build and climb our own personal ladder one rung at a time. In this highly interactive workshop, University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Jim Detert, author of “Choosing Courage,” guides participants through identifying their own challenging situations and empowering them to create and practice strategies and tools for successfully navigating them. Attendees will be able to take these practical tools and individualized strategies back to their organizations, allowing them to face stressful conversations and bold actions with a new sense of confidence and competence.
02 · WORKSHOPPerfecting Persuasive Communication Strategies
As individuals build the skills to speak up in interpersonal situations at work when necessary, the next step is to ensure effective, persuasive communication to broader audiences. In this customized, interactive workshop, University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Jim Detert, the leading expert on workplace courage and speaking up, uses research-backed tools and techniques for creating change through how problems and solutions are presented or “sold.” Detert provides attendees with opportunities to identify important issues, formulate plans for how to address these issues, and employ strategies and tools to skillfully persuade senior leaders to address them. Through hands-on learning and simulations, participants will be able to more confidently bring concerns to senior decision makers and apply persuasive communication skills to increase the likelihood of action.
Our session was one of the most intellectually exhilarating moments of my life. THANK YOU for challenging us in a thought-provoking way.
Carter T. WhitelowGovernment Relations Advisor, Williams Mullen
I mustered the courage to do my courage ladder rung, and got up in front to ask the Secretary of the Navy a question at a large conference. … What really amazed me, because I hadn’t thought of this as a potential outcome, is that so many people I had never met came up to me and introduced themselves, talking about my question a conversation starter. I have been able to network with many more people than I would have been able to otherwise. I have always focused on 'what could go wrong' and hadn’t even considered what positive things might come of my action, aside from getting more comfortable with being uncomfortable. The courage ladder definitely motivated me to just go for it.
Clare AtzertDirector – Surface Ship Systems Division, Naval Reactors
I can’t even begin to explain how much your presentation literally changed the path I was on. I don’t want to be cliché and say 'this week changed my life', but honestly, even my mom’s death 4 years ago didn’t put me in the place I was for so long this year.
Erika KramerDirector, Trio Pharmacy
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