TICkA had the pleasure to follow a session given by Ryan Gottfredson during ATD 2019.
Hereby a summary of his latest blog.
Many people expect leaders to be like sports cars:
- Look good
- Perform at high levels at all times
- Get where they are going fast
- Generally, progress in a linear fashion
The reality is that few leaders are sports cars and are scared to admit it. They are scared to look/be vulnerable.
Why is being vulnerable important for leadership?
First, vulnerability breeds trust
Most people agree that trust is important, but some managers/leaders throw it out in order to achieve quantifiable objectives.
Statistics on trust:
- Only 49% of employees trust their senior leaders
- Only 36% of employees believe their top managers act with honesty and integrity
- 76% of employees observe a high level of illegal or unethical conduct in work
- 53% of job seekers were on the job market because they didn’t trust their boss
While trust can help make vulnerability easier, trust is first initiated and build trough someone being vulnerable.
Second, vulnerability breeds connection
If we want to influence people in a positive way, we need to have a positive relationship with them.
So, how do we build these relationships? One of the best ways is through vulnerability. When someone is authentically vulnerable, we will always want to move closer to them, both physically and emotionally.
Third, leadership requires courage and courage requires vulnerability
As Brené Brown states ‘To create is to make something that has never existed before. There’s nothing more vulnerable than that’
So, vulnerability is not the antithesis of leadership, it is an essential part of it.
Do you have the courage to be vulnerable?
