Book SummaryWild Courage, by Jenny Wood

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Wild Courage

In Wild Courage, Jenny Wood explains that many people struggle in their lives and careers because they’re afraid of taking the bold actions necessary to succeed. They fear being judged as strange, pushy, or self-centered rather than authentic, driven, or confident. However, Wood counters that the negative stigma around bold actions is unfounded—people judge others who break conventions because they feel threatened by their courage, yet praise their boldness once they succeed. Therefore, to succeed in your professional and personal life, Wood says to be courageous and take bold actions despite your fear—be authentic, advocate for...

Wild Courage Summary The Importance of Courage

Wood argues that courage is crucial because it counters fear, and fear, particularly the fear of others’ judgement, is the biggest barrier to success. This fear stems from our evolutionary instinct to fit in and to pressure others to do so as well. In the early days of humanity, fitting in with the tribe ensured safety—those who strayed were more vulnerable to predators. Therefore, survival demanded that we crave conformity and enforce it as the standard in our communities for everyone's safety.

(Shortform note: In The Art of Thinking Clearly, Rolf Dobelli reiterates the influence that our evolutionary instinct to fit in has on our behavior, providing some additional details on how this works. For example, when we change our behavior to fit into a group (conform), we usually do so by [mimicking the behavior of the person with the most...

Wild Courage Summary Action 1: Be Authentic

People are often pressured to fit certain standards to gain acceptance, and they fear being cast out and deemed “strange” when they fail to do so. However, Wood explains that using courage to overcome this fear and be authentic—even if people find you odd—is the only way to get where you’re destined to be in life. Being your true self will repel the people and opportunities that aren’t meant for you, helping you narrow down those that will allow you to thrive. Further, your greatest strengths that are most crucial to your success are the ones that are unique to you—being your authentic self is how you embrace and utilize them.

(Shortform note: Wood recommends being authentic, but what does authenticity really mean? In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown explains that authenticity is a way of thinking and acting where you make the conscious choice to show your true self to the world—your thoughts, feelings, wants, needs, and personality—even if that means exposing vulnerabilities like your fears, imperfections, and quirks....

Wild Courage Summary Action 2: Be Your Own Advocate

Advocating for yourself is often seen as selfish and boastful—we’re told that being a good person requires us to put others before ourselves and be overly humble. When we break these norms, we’re often made to feel embarrassed and anxious. On the contrary, Wood claims that you can still be a good person while advocating for yourself—prioritizing your needs and well-being and unapologetically striving for your goals. Advocating for yourself and overcoming negative stigma is crucial to success because it ensures you’re using your time and energy wisely, communicating effectively, and putting as much energy toward your own goals and needs as you are toward others’.

(Shortform note: In How Women Rise, Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith argue that women are especially prone to and negatively impacted by behaviors like being overly humble and people-pleasing. This stems from women’s deep-seated desire to meet society's rigid gender...

Wild Courage Summary Action 3: Be Driven

Society tells us not to be pushy and not to get too absorbed in our pursuits. However, Wood says that despite this stigma, to achieve success, you must be driven—focus intensely on what you want and do what’s necessary to seize important opportunities.

(Shortform note: In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F∗ck, Mark Manson echoes the importance of focusing intensely on your pursuits but also offers a warning: Focus only on what matters most. While having an obsessive mindset can help you get what you want, you must be selective about where you direct your attention—obsessing over everything zaps your energy and disperses your focus so that there's not enough left to make progress on the important things.)

How to Be Driven

First, prioritize making progress toward your goals, even if this makes you seem overzealous. To do this, Wood advises creating benchmarks and standards that are tailored toward your goals rather than strictly following the ones that match the status quo. For...

Wild Courage Summary Action 4: Be Curious

People often equate curiosity with nosiness; however, Wood recommends braving your fear of being judged as nosy. She explains that practicing curiosity is crucial to success for two reasons: It introduces us to new knowledge, opportunities, and people, and it helps us stand out—asking questions shows engagement, and this is what bosses look for.

(Shortform note: While Wood focuses on the benefits of curiosity to professional success, Scott Barry Kaufman explains in Transcend that curiosity is also a fundamental human need. This is because curiosity triggers growth, and constant growth is how humans reach their full potential and ultimately attain fulfillment in life.)

How to Encourage Curiosity

First, use your curiosity to help you make connections with new people. Making connections is important because our network is often where we turn to get help or learn about new opportunities. However, many professionals struggle to make connections due to anxiety about how others perceive them. Wood says you can overcome this by focusing...

Wild Courage Summary Action 5: Be Persuasive

We’re often taught that trying to persuade other people to give us what we want is manipulative; however, Wood says that persuasion is natural and necessary to achieve your goals. You often need to get others on board to help you succeed, whether that’s convincing your manager to promote you or recruiting a colleague to teach you a new skill. The key to being persuasive and not manipulative is using empathy to tune into what others want and make sure they also benefit from helping you.

(Shortform note: Robert Greene reiterates in The Laws of Human Nature that learning persuasion is necessary because you’ll eventually need to influence others to get what you want. Additionally, Greene cites a few other reasons why learning persuasion is important, one being that persuasion is unavoidable—people respond and react to each other daily, so whether you intend to or not, you will inevitably influence others. Further, being influential rather than bluntly honest can benefit others by giving you the ability to change people’s minds. For example, rather...

Wild Courage Summary Action 6: Be Firm

Wood explains that setting boundaries is crucial for meeting your personal and professional goals, even if people judge you as being harsh. This is because your boundaries protect your peace and priorities, helping you live a life you’re proud of without regrets. But your boundaries are only beneficial if you enforce them. Enforcing your boundaries means drawing a line between what you are and aren’t willing to accept, and taking action when this line is crossed. For example, if you prioritize family over work, tell your boss that asking you to cancel a family plan for a last-minute meeting is crossing a boundary.

(Shortform note: Greg McKeown reiterates the importance of enforcing boundaries in Essentialism, and warns of what could happen if you don’t. According to McKeown, failing to enforce your boundaries will allow people to encroach to the point where your boundaries no longer exist. Other people will then be in control of your agenda. Eventually, you’ll be spread so thin that you’ll no longer be productive.)

How to Set and Enforce...

Wild Courage Summary Action 7: Be a Go-Getter

Many people fail to achieve their goals because they’re afraid of taking risks and being called impulsive or reckless—instead, they let overthinking delay action. But Wood says that being successful requires you to have the courage to act fast and be willing to take risks. If you wait for the perfect moment or to have 100% certainty in your plan before starting something, you’ll never start. Further, risks are necessary for you to progress, and people are generally more regretful over the risks they didn’t take than the unsuccessful ones that they did.

(Shortform note: Wood’s sentiment to take risks and embrace failure is a popular one—so much so that “fail fast, fail often” has become the unofficial motto of the technology industry in its ongoing quest to experiment and innovate. However, some experts believe this motto can be dangerous as it causes people to rush into half-baked plans. [The key to succeeding from failures is taking time to learn from your...

Wild Courage Summary Action 8: Be a Leader

Wood explains that reaching a certain level of career success often puts you in a leadership position where you’re managing others to some extent; therefore, understanding how to lead is crucial. However, many struggle in this position because they fear being called “bossy,” or they end up being overly controlling out of fear of their team underperforming. To be a courageous leader and avoid these pitfalls, Wood says you should enable and empower others to reach their potential. Success as a leader is defined by how successful you help others and your organization become.

(Shortform note: Stephen M.R. Covey makes a similar point in Trust and Inspire, arguing that the key to being an effective leader is maximizing employee creativity, innovation, and collaboration—the key ingredients for quality work, which is necessary for an organization to thrive. The way to maximize these traits, Covey says, is by offering employees trust and inspiration. According to Covey, this leadership style is more effective than[ older, outdated forms of “command and...

Shortform Exercise: Make a Bold Action Plan for Authenticity

Wood explains that achieving success requires you to overcome fear and take bold action. In this exercise, we’ll identify some areas where you can overcome your fear of being judged as “weird” so you can be authentic.

Brainstorm a recent scenario where your fear of being judged prevented you from being authentic—for example, maybe you had a great solution to a problem during a meeting but were too intimated to speak up once someone else already proposed their solution.