Vulnerability and Leadership
02/14/2015
Leadership Series: Vulnerability and Inspired Leadership | Impatient Optimists.
As a result of working with Pat Lencioni's team development model I have become intrigued by the impact of vulnerability on trust. The work of Brené Brown seems to support this relationship even though she doesn't use the word "trust". But it makes a lot of sense. The key quote for me in this article is her question for leaders (should also be the question for all members of a team):
Do we have the courage to show up, be seen, take risks, ask for help, own our mistakes, learn from failure, lean into joy, and can we support the people around us in doing the same?
Using this question while helping team members grapple with the level of trust on the team could be powerful. I can see them calling up experiences with others on the team where each of these behaviors have been exhibited or, on the other hand, where they were not. Sharing the results of these behaviors with other team members would help to clarify the impact of vulnerability and support further use of the behaviors.
In my coaching sessions I routinely encourage people to ask others for specific examples of when they used certain behaviors and the outcome of those behaviors. We know that the mind likes to work with visualization, so this helps bring clarity and objectivity to the way we relate to others. With clear examples, we are better able to either repeat a positive behavior or to make changes to behaviors which are having negative impacts. These could refer to both relationships with others as well as outcomes on projects; e.g. the way we use our time.
But the more significant outcome of this exercise would be building, or even restoring, trust.
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