You just became leader of leaders
The next 100 days will define your credibility.
Your old playbook stopped working. The identity lag is real. The BRAVER™ framework helps you navigate the vulnerability window—before the patterns lock in.
Calm minds. Clear Decisions.
BRAVER™ Leadership.
The Transition Nobody Prepares You For
You worked hard to get here.The promotion felt like validation.Then week two hit.Suddenly, everything feels unfamiliar.Your direct reports are seasoned leaders themselves.They don't need you to show them how to do the work.They need something else from you, and you're not entirely sure what that is yet.Every decision feels loaded.Every conversation has subtext you haven't learned to read.And there's a voice inside that keeps asking: "Who do you think you are to say that?"This is the identity lag.That disorienting gap between who you were (a high-performing expert in your field) and who you need to become:- a leader of leaders
- a systems thinker
- leading through influence not just expertiseYour old identity doesn't fit anymore.Your new one hasn't fully formed.And you're trying to build credibility in a role where everything feels unfamiliar.This creates what I call the vulnerability window: a 12-16 week period where you're simultaneously at your most visible and your most uncertain.Get it right, and you establish the foundation for years of effective leadership.Get it wrong, and you spend months—or years—recovering credibility.
The BRAVER™ Framework
A practical, psychologically literate operating system for leaders of leaders navigating their first 100 days.BRAVER™ isn't generic leadership advice. It's a framework built specifically for the moment when your scope has outgrown your emotional infrastructure—when you need to lead differently than anything that worked before.B — Behavioural Credibility
The alignment between what you say, what you decide, and what you consistently do. At senior levels, people watch more closely than they listen. Credibility is built through coherence, not charisma.R — Regulated Presence
Your ability to stay emotionally steady and grounded when others are activated. As a leader of leaders, your nervous system becomes contagious infrastructure. Your reactivity scales faster than your words.A — Adaptive Capacity
The ability to adjust thinking, style, and approach as context shifts—without losing your core. Leader-of-leaders roles break old success patterns. What got you promoted often becomes what limits you.V — Values in Motion
Values that are visible in decisions, not just stated on slides. At higher levels, ambiguity increases. Values become decision filters when certainty disappears.E — Empathetic Edge
The ability to combine care with clarity—empathy without avoidance. Leader-of-leaders roles demand tough conversations without collapsing into people-pleasing or emotional distance.R — Reflective Intelligence
The discipline of making meaning from experience in real time. Senior leaders don't get much feedback—reflection becomes the feedback loop.
Your Path Forwards
1. Understand Where You Are
Take the 5-minute BRAVER™ Transition Diagnostic. You'll discover which dimension needs attention first, where you are in the vulnerability window, and your three immediate actions.
2. Build Your Foundation
Subscribe to Braver Leadership insights. Every week, I publish practical guidance on navigating the leaders-of-leaders transition—no corporate fluff, no AI-isms. Just real situations, real challenges, real solutions.
3. What’s Really Holding You Back (When You’re Actually Doing Fine)?You’re doing more than most people ever will — and yet there’s a voice inside that still questions, pushes, or holds you back.In this gentle but powerful 45-minute session, I will work with you to uncover the saboteur patterns that show up under pressure and quietly drain your leadership potential.Nothing to fix.
Nothing “wrong” with you.
Just awareness, perspective, and one braver way forward you can act on immediately.Most people find this free session unexpectedly relieving.
Free Resources to Get Started
The BRAVER™ Diagnostic
A 5-minute assessment that shows you exactly where you are in your transition and which dimension to focus on first.
Weekly Insights
Every Saturday, one deep dive on navigating the leaders-of-leaders transition. Practical, psychologically literate guidance for the journey nobody prepares you for.
The Leading Leaders Handbook (Coming 2026)
The complete guide to navigating your first 100 days as a leader of leaders. Built on the BRAVER™ framework and years of coaching experience.
The
Leading Leaders Programme
Private 1:1 coaching for leaders of leaders in their first 100 days.This isn't generic executive coaching.It's a specialized programme for the specific transition you're in right now—the step-up from managing to leading leaders.What You Get:6-8 week intensive focused on your vulnerability window
BRAVER™ framework implementation tailored to your context.Weekly 1:1 sessions to navigate identity lag, build credibility, and establish your leadership operating system.Tools, practices, and frameworks you'll use for years.Who This Is For:- Leaders of leaders in weeks 1-16 of their transition
- High-performers preparing to step-up to first leader of leader role
- Leaders who want to build credibility deliberately, not just hope it happensExclusively limited to 2 clients per quarter.How it works:
Start off with a live session where I'll help you identify the inner pressure that's making your leadership harder than it needs to be. This session's my gift to you.
About Ian Browne
I lead large-scale early careers and talent development programmes, where I've spent a decade understanding how high-performers transition into leadership roles—and why some thrive while others struggle.I hold a Master's in Coaching, am an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and am trained in Positive Intelligence. I've coached dozens of leaders through the specific transition from managing to leading leaders.I created the BRAVER™ framework because this transition kept breaking the same high-performing leaders in the same predictable ways. The tools that got them promoted weren't the tools they needed to succeed in the new role.I'm writing The Leading Leaders Handbook to codify what actually works during the vulnerability window—the 12-16 weeks when credibility gets built or credibility gets damaged.
What People Say
"Ian listens deeply and has a gift for spotting the unspoken threads in conversation. His insight helped me navigate forward with clarity and confidence."
— Grace, Business Founder"Ian helped me see the true value of my skills—and that I was capable of so much more than I believed."
— Laura, Financial Services Leader"Working with Ian helped me understand my value as a leader. His patience and perspective gave me clarity and the confidence to step up."
— James, Junior Executive