The Leadership Dilemma: Is Vulnerability Keeping You Stuck?

In today’s fast-paced, ever-evolving world, leadership requires more than just decisiveness. It calls for a delicate balance between vulnerability, empowerment, and adaptability. These three elements form the backbone of my #ProjectMe framework, which focuses on moving from recognising challenges to acting on them and ultimately flourishing.

But here’s the question:

Is vulnerability alone enough, or does empowerment complete the circle?

Why Vulnerability Alone Can Be a Trap...

Vulnerability is often touted as a strength, but let’s not kid ourselves—vulnerability without the right environment or direction can leave you stuck. I’ve been there. After my husband’s diagnosis with late-stage pancreatic cancer, my life became a whirlwind of emotional and physical exhaustion. Between managing his illness, juggling my career, and dealing with other family crises, I was overwhelmed.

Ian McDermott , a Global Thought Leader on Effective Leadership, refers to this as dynamic learning—a state of learning in the moment, under immense pressure. It’s exhausting, and vulnerability without action can lead to paralysis. At that time, I opened up to a colleague, allowing them into my personal space, thinking it would foster understanding. Instead, it backfired and contributed to my downfall.

Vulnerability without empowerment left me stranded.

The Missing Piece – Empowerment

Vulnerability opens the door, but empowerment is what enables you to walk through it. It’s about giving yourself, and your team, the tools to take action. In my case, empowerment came from recognising that while I couldn’t change the circumstances around me, I could control how I responded to them.

We often speak about vulnerability as the gateway to connection and trust, but without empowerment, it becomes incomplete. Empowerment is about action—taking ownership of your situation and moving forward. In my work, I’ve seen that the leaders who flourish are those who not only embrace vulnerability but also empower themselves and others to take control of what they can influence.

Adaptability as the Catalyst for Growth...

Empowerment isn’t the final step—it’s the bridge to adaptability. As CAROLE BOZKURT insightfully pointed out the missing piece is often resilience... but it is more than that, for me...

the missing piece is often adaptability...

Resilience suggests bouncing back, but adaptability means growing, shifting, and evolving in response to change. This is where the 3As of my #ProjectMe framework come in: Acknowledge the challenge, Act on what’s within your control, and Attain new skills and perspectives that allow you to flourish.

But adaptability also means recognising what might stop you and identifying the support you’ll need to move forward—this is essentially 'contingency planning'. You are not just reacting to challenges, but preparing for them. It’s about having the foresight to ensure that obstacles don’t derail your progress, and instead, empower you to grow stronger through the process.

When leaders are empowered and adaptable, they don’t just survive—they flourish. They don’t see vulnerability as a weakness but as the first step in a process that leads to growth and success.

The Importance of Psychological Safety...

For vulnerability to flourish in an organisation, there must be psychological safety. Without this foundation, vulnerability feels like a risk, not a strength. Cathryn O'Donnelly highlighted this in her comments earlier this week:

“If we fear negative consequences, we’re not going to share feelings of vulnerability.”

So where does psychological safety begin, and whose responsibility is it? Leaders must create an environment where individuals feel safe to be open without fear of judgement or reprisal. As CAROLE BOZKURT rightly mentioned...

“Leaders worry that showing vulnerability will undermine their authority,”

but when psychological safety is in place, vulnerability becomes a strength that builds deeper connections and trust.

The 3As in Action: A Path to Flourishing

The 3As—Acknowledge, Act, and Attain—are at the heart of my #ProjectMe framework. This simple yet powerful process takes leaders from vulnerability to empowerment to adaptability. It’s about grounding yourself, not remaining stuck, and continuously evolving. We’ve all experienced moments where vulnerability left us feeling exposed. But with the right framework, you can turn that vulnerability into a platform for empowerment and growth.

The question is: "Are you ready to embrace this balance and help your team flourish?"

To Close...

Empowering your organisation starts with creating a culture that values not just vulnerability but also the actions that come after it—empowerment and adaptability. It’s time to stop seeing vulnerability as an endpoint and start seeing it as a starting point in a much larger journey....

"How are you fostering empowerment and adaptability in your organisation?"

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

How do you balance vulnerability, empowerment, and adaptability in your leadership journey? Feel free to share your insights and experiences—I’m always open to learning from others.

One Final Reflection...

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. I found it much harder to write than I had anticipated. I say that not for a desire for sympathy or for comments on how strong I am, but for a recognition that now, even 10 years on, this is a journey I am still travelling. And yet, for the main part, I do it alone—not because I don’t have friends or family who support and care, because I do, but they can’t be with me 24/7. That is the harsh reality of leading through the ebbs and flows of life.

Sending love and gratitude,

Laura

??

Rebalance - Rebuild - Reignite.

Become Unbreakable. Achieve Success Without Compromise.

#ProjectMe