(NewsNation) — Kristen Kavanaugh, Tesla’s former head of diversity, equity and inclusion, is speaking out in her new book “Courage Over Fear,” in which she describes Elon Musk’s leadership style as driven by fear.

Kavanaugh told “Morning in America” Friday that she regrets not standing up to Musk previously; she was afraid of being fired at the time. She added that it took her a while to process what happened after she left Tesla and to understand what advice to share with people in similar situations.

“I landed on courage and really helping people understand that courage is the antidote to what we’re seeing today in the federal government with DOGE, what we’re seeing in some corporations with toxic work environments,” she said.

Now, Kavanaugh is encouraging federal workers to push back against sweeping cuts.

“Now is a historic time for us to speak up and say something,” she said.

The Trump administration and Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency, have been working to cut the federal workforce by at least 10% since January.

In an executive order, Trump instructed government heads to hire no more than one employee for every four employees who are fired or quit. These heads have also been told to plan for massive layoffs.