Success favours the brave

“Acts of bravery throughout history have not come only from the strong, they come from everyday people”, Dr Emma Barrett author and psychologist declared.

She talked about what elements were necessary for acts of bravery to occur. Anyone can be brave if they overcome fear and take risks in the pursuit of a valued goal.

It was a prevalent theme iterated by the speakers of the Marketing Society Brave Conference who all spoke about acts of bravery from their own professional and personal lives. The young semi-pro e-gamer Bradley Ismail is risking his future on his avid pursuit of success in the world of professional gaming. BBC presenter Ros Atkins took great risks in his career when he left a secure job for the chance to present on the BBC World Service.  Atkins said that “it’s easy to be brave if you’re prepared”, his hours of practice in the lead up to hosting his own show ensured that his risks paid off.

'If there is trust there is bravery'

In a panel discussion, Olga Kudryashova from Y&R Advertising, spoke about building strong relationships with clients where trust became the key prerequisite for bravery, “if there is trust there is bravery”. Dana Al-Kutoubi of FP7 believed the way to get clients to agree to take a leap of faith on ambitious work was to ‘show the working’, show step-by-step how you got to the answer. Al-Kutoubi said that “being brave is making a difference to individuals and society”, and if you believe in that then it will be manifested in your work.

Asad Rehman of Unilever was questioned about the recent Dove advertising failure

“They were brave, but perhaps a little stupid too” a lesson in being informed before embarking on brave undertakings. However Unilever redeemed itself through the courageous stand it took on the inactivity of kids in today’s society through their Omo #kidstoday campaign.

Every potential negative angle was planned for and every individual who complained was answered personally.

Vikram Krishna Executive Vice President at Emirates NBD spoke about bravery from a regional perspective. 

While there has been a great deal of change, especially with regards to Saudi Arabia in 2017, there is still a status quo that needs to change. Banking hasn’t been inclusive in the past, so they’re coming up with numerous initiatives to extend a positive banking experience to those with disabilities, some will be a success and others may not. Ismail summed it up best when he said, “disruption needs to be the norm… make mistakes, but move on”.

In Silicon Valley they celebrate failures. After they cancel any big project, they hold a party to focus on the positive aspects of recognising when something doesn't work, you shouldn’t dwell on it.

The Brave Conference was an afternoon about challenging the thinking of others and ourselves.

The Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger captured it well when he said that “he who is brave is free”. We need to free ourselves from the constraints of mediocrity and the ‘tried and tested’ in order to achieve great things.

Dubai is a city of immigrants, where the majority of the population gave up the security of a life they knew in pursuit of uncertain reward. Bravery is very much ingrained in the fabric of this place, a fact that we should all be proud of and remember anytime we consider our work and what we want to achieve in our lives.

Because success favours those who are brave.

By Tom Warden, senior strategist, Siegel + Gale.