How can vulnerability help you develop a unique voice and style?

Remember the last time you “really connected” with your team or a co-worker? Was it over exceeding revenue targets, developing a cool product feature or a great marketing event? On the contrary, a deep connection was probably created when you reached out for help, admitted your mistake and apologized (this one tops the list of leaders rarely doing it) or called up to share a difficult situation you were going through. Does that make you less leader-material ? On the contrary, it shows your humility, authenticity and that you are not a know-it-all. It allows you to learn, adapt, experiment, take risks, resonates with your team and becomes a powerful catalyst for developing a unique voice and style.

Embracing vulnerability can significantly refine your unique voice and style. Being transparent about your emotions, challenges, and failures humanizes your brand, fostering a deeper connection with your audience. Acknowledging your limitations and seeking assistance when necessary shows authenticity, building trust and credibility. Moreover, vulnerability allows you to express your core values, passions, and motivations, which are pivotal in crafting a distinctive voice and style that resonates with your audience.

Love the way that even the greatest investor & capitalist Warren Buffett starts his annual letter with past year's mistakes. Acknowledging your failures first shows humility, character, selflessness and true leadership. By accepting mistakes as their own & giving credit to team for success is a mark of great leader.

Truly vulnerable leaders lead by example. In front of an audience of thousands, I watched Microsoft CMO, Chris Capossela do a practice media interview with the head of PR, and then they did a debrief in front of everyone. It was vulnerable and captivating. Chris didn't get everything right. But what was more important was he demonstrated strong leadership qualities of fast failure, empathy, humility, and humor. That was 10 years ago, I don't remember what he said, but I remember the event to this day.

I remember the time when I was dealing with depression as I was trying to fit in a whole different environment! That Made to face depression That Made me to become miserable Then, One day I stopped trying to fit in and started being vulnerable with my own nature and behaviour! And, Hence this tactic helped me to come out of depression! And, Hence it made me feel relaxed!!

Storytelling is a powerful way to make a deeper connection with your audience. When we step out of our comfort zone and share our experiences we use vulnerability to impact those who are listening to our message. Being vulnerable is not a sign of weakness -- but a medium to build deeper and more long-lasting influence. Stories help to break barriers and demonstrate commonalities with those we seek to impact.

In my experience people want to see beyond the metaphors and business speak. Share your history, your mistakes and your learnings with pride so others can feel what you felt.

Stories are a great way to get vulnerable. Stories are affirmations! The affirm who we are and that we are more alike than we are different. Stories make us real, accessible and relatable. They connect and bond us. They build trust and authority. The beauty of our stories is, that while each is unique, they share similar features such as struggle, pain, love and joy. Stories allow us t o share our wisdom and knowledge to aid other's in their journey. When we share our personal story it allows people to REALLY get to know us. If you are sharing openly, vulnerably and honestly people hear, and get to know, YOUR unique voice. Even if you speak on the same topic as someone else, nobody has unique YOUR voice or story.

Humans have been using sorties since the dawn of times in order to teach, guide, inspire and fear. Our mind is drawn towards stories because they connect us to others in meaningful ways . That is why people follow, admire and buy from the best storytellers. No wonder why thought leadership use this tool to show their vulnerability and build bonds with a community. So next time you find you need to propel engagement, try using your own story and showing your struggles, learnings, wins and failures.

I for a long time was very hesitant about sharing my stories. Then I discovered by doing so more people said you know I know how you feel. In most cases someone else has had the same experience. One of the best things that I learned and continue to do is, if somebody is sharing a story with me I asked them do you want me to help you solve the problem or just be there to listen?

Vulnerability is already trending as a way to have a unique voice. The vulnerability that appears on LinkedIn compared to 5 years ago is drastic. It is one of the only ways to differentiate ourselves from others who may do similar work in our field. Besides LinkedIn, other mediums to show vulnerability to build a unique voice is during presentations. It is how the audience starts to relate to you and see you as more than an expert in your field.

Experimenting with different formats and mediums is great for exploring what works and what's not. Most of the time, instead of monotonous text content, having visuals, clips, and diagrams adds huge value to the content. However, irrespective of platform and format, the key principle is the content, which has to be consistent. Because at the end of the day, that's what readers are looking for.

Don't be scared to try new innovative mediums that will allow you to truly express all of your thoughts so that they are expressed in an effective way that intrigues your audience while offering visual aesthetics. Additionally, learning new mediums add to your repertoire for professional development.

Ultimately, Seeking feedback helps identifying our own "Blind Spots" and minimize it over the time. Vulnerability is all about being very honest about your strengths and weaknesses, being open to admits mistakes, and always open to learn from every aspect. More importantly, by seeking feedback for improvement. A leader has to be vulnerable. Also, always open for criticism, it's hard to accept, but when we try to looks at in a different angle, it gives us tremendous opportunity to grow.

Feedback and especially mentorship is amazing. ?? But I would like to emphasize that you need to have some momentum going before you ask for help. Unless of course it’s your spouse or your best buddies. People are busy and they want to help but you have to do your part. Show them that you are a consistent person and the time that they give you will be productive because you already have experiences and specific questions ready to go. They will appreciate that you did your homework, and want to help you all the more. ??

In my experience, feedback is key but it must be honest and accurate feedback for it to be useful. The challenge is as humans, we expect positive feedback all the time and most of us are hurt when we get the feedback that points to areas that we need to improve. In many cases, leaders are told what they want to hear instead of what they must hear to improve. Some even victimise those who give them the accurate feedback just because the feedback does not feed their egos. The ability to ask and accept all forms of feedback in the spirit of appreciation is actually a strength in itself and not just a way of improving vulnerability.

You can become experts by gathering information from others who are thought leaders. Ask and then ask for elaboration, explanation on things you may not understand how to implement. Don't be afraid to show vulnerability in your efforts to refine and development, redevelopment your unique points of view. Be intentional don't ask without taking note. Connect with Mentors and don't discount your coworkers' expertise. Learn from everyone. Take advantage of the talent around you, capitalize on it!

Vulnerability requires we embrace our flaws & strengths; our wins & losses. Achieving thought leadership doesn't demand absolute perfection; in fact, it requires the strength to be vulnerable - sharing, learning & teaching others from our errors & imperfection. This is where you show up 1000% as YOU. It makes you relatable, more trustworthy and, because there is no other person who is just like you, you have found your unique voice! Authenticity & genuineness emerge from wholeheartedly embracing both imperfections & strengths therefore modeling for others the way to cultivate a unique voice and style.

Vulnerability allows those to see your authenticity and a better understanding of how you maneuver personally and professionally. This also provides an expansion of opportunity. An opportunity to build meaningful relationships that create a safe place to thrive.

Embrace the entirety of who you are and every moment that shapes you. Imagine a perspective where there are neither imperfections nor distinctions between strengths and weaknesses. Our lives are a tapestry of actions, words, learning, adapting, growing, and resting. Each of us makes an impact, feeling more adept at certain things and less so at others. We can be people who acknowledge our less-than-skillful moments and clean up the messes we make in our relationships. So if we "embrace" anything, we embrace owning our impact in every moment with curiosity, compassion, and courage.

I think about this on a continuum. What is the right amount of vulnerability given the situation? How often are you allowing yourself to be vulnerable? Can you do it a bit more? It like many attributes and traits needs to be practiced and developed consistently.

I think this article may be using the wrong term. Vulnerability is not necessarily something a thought leader needs to show. But they should show humility. It helps you stand out from the blowhards, while also conveying expertise. Arrogance can fool the layfolk, but a thought leader's job isn't really to influence the layfolk. It's to influence other experts. And humility conveys the sense that you know the limits of your own knowledge. And that's what truly defines expertise. Knowing what you don't know.

Showing vulnerability isn't able laying all your weaknesses and wounds out on the table all the time. It's about being honest and being true to who you are, whether you are happy, concerned, troubled, elated etc. Being vulnerable with others build trust, rapport and ultimately contributes to trustworthy relationships. Your voice and style is one that people can rely on, not having to second guess your intention, whether it's in business or in life in general, not pretending who you are not is generally a better option than hiding who you are as a person

How can vulnerability help you develop a unique voice and style? It's the heart of it all that matters. ?? #RadiatingReal, vulnerability is the raw authenticity that breathes life into your voice & style. When you embrace vulnerability, you open a door to your true authentic self, allowing genuine emotions & experiences to flow into your expression. This openness fosters a deep human connection that others resonate with. Through vulnerability, you break free from societal molds, discovering the beauty in your unique story. It's the essence of relatability, being perfectly imperfect, paving the way for a distinctive voice that speaks from the heart, fostering empathy, understanding & a profound connection with your audience & community.

Rather than focus on vulnerability ( a word that is fast approaching entry into an unfavourably named office bingo game), I recommend thinking about what is your unique perspective that sheds light on your unique journey. So many people I work with struggle with this idea of having to 'put themselves out there' here on Linkedin, and so asking them to be vulnerable is emotionally confronting and something many professional leaders are not able to invest much headspace into. Instead, focus on the parts of your story or journey that shows (not tells) a story you'd share if we were in a conversation with a small group of colleagues. One that's relatively brief, has a relevant 'so what' for the audience and will help them in some way.

Make sure your profile page is on point. If you are going through all of the work of creating content, assume that viewers will want to know more about you and they will visit your profile page. ?? There’s endless information out there about how to optimize your LinkedIn profile page so if doesn’t already go without saying… Make sure it’s buttoned up. ?? Make sure people can see a clear shot of your face and I personally think people that are smiling look better. Flesh out your experience, use hashtags when necessary, and optimize your headline. ??

Vulnerability can humanize and give you authenticity in front of your co-workers and clients. No working professional is perfect and if you are always stoic and muted it can create an unsustainable aura that creates guards with your coworkers and clients.