Monday Musings -- Venerable Vulnerability

Several things struck me reading the piece linked at the end of these comments. Being open-minded; giving myself permission; knowing yourself; and being?transparent all resonated.

We often hear (and read) about this idea of being a vulnerable leader, but how do we become comfortable with the idea? This piece offers a couple of pertinent points.

For me, vulnerability, transparency, and authenticity all have to work in unison to being able to do this "well". For some leaders, being vulnerable, while avoiding the TMI-trap, is natural. They don't have to work at it as hard as other leaders. I fall into the latter camp, more so because when I was coming of professional leadership age, as the article shares, Jack Welch was the epitome of executive leadership. He was THE example ... for a time.

As markets, demographics, relational dynamics, and other factors have evolved over time, we know that way of leading fell out of favor. My own sense is, we aren't better than he was, rather, as things shift, so did some of what makes leaders successful.

I worked hard at giving myself permission (another thing the article points out) to be more vulnerable (read -- open) with my teammates about what I was thinking about rather than trying only and ever to give and gain confidence solely based on my demonstrated competence or ability to get things accomplished.

I was, early in my leadership journey, too focused on trying to be the "strong silent type". Part of my understanding breakthrough, almost 25 years ago now, was performance feedback from my then-boss. That feedback was less about how many things we were accomplishing; it was more about being a "human" rather than a "machine".

At the time, and I have openly shared this over again since then, I did not appreciate the feedback. Setting it aside and allowing myself time to reflect and see what my boss was trying to tell me, my perspective changed, and I got to work on those recommendations. It was a couple of years after that when I finally and fully recognized, and took action, on being growth-mindsetted (the article calls this being open-minded).

While Dr. Carol Dweck was researching just this principle back in the 1980s when Welch was in his preeminence, the term itself, at least in my circles and spheres, did not materialize as a regular discussion topic until sometime in this century. I came to understand how important that mindset is to remain successful, both professionally and personally.

One slight criticism about this piece is this "trigger" thing. While I don't think the authors are thinking about the term in the same manner as we see in politically or socially charged situations or scenarios, my criticism is simply to find a better word.

A better word is "reaction" or "response". My thinking here is, triggering, seems to me, allows for excuses and exclusions. We choose how we react and respond, even when something bothers, concerns, and frustrates our thinking or sensibilities on any subject.

That little thing notwithstanding, the authors advance good insights herein about why vulnerability is important, and again, a couple of thoughts about how to create that in our leadership styles and profiles. How leaders can tap the power of vulnerability | McKinsey