​Why it’s important to show vulnerability in leadership

Rewind 20 years and ask someone in a leadership position if it’s a good idea to be vulnerable and you’d probably be laughed out of the office. Thankfully the world has moved on, and now the ability to be vulnerable is what makes a great leader.

Vulnerability is often perceived as a weakness but it can be turned into one of your biggest strengths. The ability to share and be vulnerable takes courage and in turn helps you connect on a human level with those around you, reminding them, and ourselves, that not everyone is perfect and that is more than ok.

​Misconceptions of vulnerability

When we think of being vulnerable chances are you either think of someone oversharing or you think of someone breaking down in tears. We’ve been conditioned by a society to think of vulnerability as the inability to control ourselves or our emotions, and in the workplace that’s been painted as the worst thing you could ever do.

Vulnerability isn’t extreme transparency and it’s not floods of tears, instead it’s having the courage and ability to share flaws, challenges and worries.

When we start to look at vulnerability in that way you can see how it can be a strength for leaders rather than the weakness it’s historically been made out to be.

Humanising leaders

Somewhere along the way we’ve been led to believe that to be a leader you need to be perfect. You need all the answers. You need to know everything and you need to be the best. That way of thinking is not only unrealistic but unhealthy. No one is perfect and no one has it all together all of the time.

As a leader being able to admit that you don’t know something or you need help allows those around you the opportunity to step up, to shine. While also reassuring them that it’s ok to need help.

When you take on a leadership role you become a role model for those around you. That means your behaviour and actions set the tone for what’s right.

Keeping up the pretence of being perfect puts pressure on the wider team to be perfect. The difficulty with that is that perfect doesn’t exist.

We all make mistakes and we all need help. Opening up to your team that you feel that way too builds trust, empathy and connection. Three key factors necessary for innovation and success.

​Building your support network

Being vulnerable doesn’t mean sharing all of your deepest, darkest secrets. In fact, you can be vulnerable in the workplace without revealing anything personal about yourself. Simply by sharing that you’re going through something in your personal life is enough to help those around you understand why you might react differently.

There is something to be said however for the power of letting your work colleagues in. I was promoted to Managing Director of Ambition UK in September 2016 at the same time that my much-loved mum was undergoing chemotherapy for a rare tumour, she passed away 2nd February 2017. In that time my management team stepped up in a way that I’d never have dreamed of, allowing me to spend time with her in hospital and later a hospice. Without the support of my team I would have struggled to get through that very difficult time.

We’re sometimes adamant about keeping our personal and professional lives separate but the truth is they both impact the other. Recognising that and acknowledging challenges we’re going through which might be affecting us is a powerful and brave thing to do.

Being a leader doesn’t make you immune from heartache, challenges or simply struggling with something. But by sharing that with those around you and being vulnerable you can support others and allow them to support you.

Simon Sinek sums it up when he says “A leader, first and foremost, is a human. Only when we have the strength to show our vulnerability can we truly lead.”

​The positive power of vulnerability

I recently wrote about the rise of authentic leadership, and for me, vulnerability goes hand in hand with authenticity.

When we’re vulnerable we’re showing our true selves, we’re sharing our emotions and people connect with that. As leaders we want to create psychological safe workplaces which encourage people to be their whole selves and where people feel safe. That starts at the top.

As leaders we need to take steps to embed vulnerability in our culture. Not only for the sake of our employees but also for the wider benefits that research has found come with vulnerable leaders.

Improved productivity

Have you ever sat on a task because you weren’t sure what to do about it? You didn’t know how to approach it but instead of asking for help, which could be perceived as a sign of weakness you did nothing instead.

Sharing your vulnerabilities around being stuck, means that task will get done and possibly to a higher standard than you’d have achieved on your own.

Improved trust and collaboration

When your team feels that you’re being authentic and vulnerable with them they’re more likely to trust you. Research shows that employees are 5.3 times more likely to trust their leader if they regularly show vulnerability. At the heart of collaboration and innovation is trust.

People need to feel that they’re in a safe space and can rely on each other to work together and to respect different viewpoints.

Inspiring creativity

Creating a culture of vulnerability also creates a culture of learning. When we acknowledge we’ve made a mistake it means others are more willing to try new things and as a result make mistakes along the way. In doing so you spark new ideas and creativity because you’ve created a safe space.

Enabling growth

For leaders it can feel they need to have all the answers, but when we admit that we don’t know and bring in other viewpoints it can fuel growth by identifying solutions we might not have otherwise seen. Sharing our vulnerability around our abilities also helps individuals to be honest about their weaknesses and areas they might need help developing, driving their career but also the business forward.

For too long vulnerability has been perceived as a weakness. To me, it’s a sign of strength, of courage. We’re all human, we make mistakes and we don’t know everything. That doesn’t make you a bad leader, in fact pretending you know everything is what makes you a bad leader.

Sharing that you’re struggling with something or that you’ve made a mistake simply makes you human. It makes you more relatable, it builds trust, it creates a psychologically safe workplace and when that happens it allows your employees to show their vulnerabilities too.