Last Updated on February 11, 2024 by Editors Desk
Jacob Morgan is the best-selling author of 5 books including his most recent, Leading with Vulnerability: Unlock Your Greatest Superpower to Transform Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization which is based on over 100 CEO interviews and a survey of 14,000 employees. The following is a guest post from Jacob which features some of the ideas from his new book.
On August 20, 1991 Hollis Harris, the then CEO of Continental Airlines, told his 42,000 employees that the company was struggling and he wasn’t sure of the path forward. He ended his memo by telling his employees to pray for the future of the company.
The next day Hollis was fired.
If Hollis was a junior employee who worked in accounting, then those statements would have had minimal impact. Some employees may have taken notice, maybe some would have taken him out to lunch to ask him why he’s having a bad day, and he would have received some words of encouragement and support from his leader and life would have moved on. When you’re a leader the things you say and do carry more weight and have more impact.
Another such leader is Fleetwood Grobler, the President & CEO, Sasol Limited, a South African energy and chemical company with over 28,000 employees.
He took over when the company was $13 billion in debt and about to be repossessed by the banks and this was even prior to the pandemic which really pushed the company downard. He too was asked to address his employees but his message was different.
Fleetwood acknowledged the difficult time they were in and that the business was struggling. However, he also said he had a vision of where the company can go in the future. He told his employees that if they all worked together that they could rebuild trust in the eyes of their people and their customers. He said they had a great team and if they helped him move things forward that together they could get things back on track, and that’s exactly what they did. Fleetwood was also vulnerable in his message but he did something that Hollis didn’t, he added leadership to the vulnerability.
We all know what vulnerability is because we have all at some point in our lives felt vulnerable which according to Brené Brown is the feeling of risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure. In our personal lives the value of vulnerability is clear, it’s what allows us to create connections and relationships.
But what about at work? Does vulnerability play a role there where we have a very different dynamic of hierarchy, bosses, customers, employees, deadlines, projects, and money? And what about for leaders, is vulnerability for them the same as it for everyone else?
Leaders inspire teams, develop a vision and plan, and get people to move in the direction of the vision. Leaders are also responsible for people, organizational resources, creating new products and services, and should be accountable for achieving the goals of the business.
They have a unique responsibility and power that means vulnerability cannot be treated, used, or expressed in the same ways it can for everyone else, as you saw in the example of Hollis Harris.
Simply being vulnerable at work – talking about your challenges, struggles, failures, and mistakes – can undermine trust and credibility. However, when adding leadership to vulnerability it enhances trust and your credibility.
Whether you lead a company, a department, a team, a community, your family, or yourself, you are a leader. With this title comes the responsibility to be a vulnerable leader.
A vulnerable leader is a leader who intentionally opens themselves up to the potential of emotional harm while taking action (when possible) to create a positive outcome. For example, you admit to making a mistake at work and take action to fix it and review what you learned. You share a personal challenge or struggle at work to build trust, connection, and get support. You ask for help and take action to get the necessary training required to get up to speed. The intended outcome is positive and you take action when you can. Although, as you will see later in the book, a positive outcome is not always the one that occurs. Sometimes we are put in vulnerable situations that we didn’t intend to be in, it’s how the leader reacts during those times which determines what kind of leader they are. Vulnerability creates connection and leadership is about being good at your job.
In the survey I conducted with leadership firm DDI we asked 14,000 employees around the world “what’s keeping you from being vulnerable at work?” The #1 result BY FAR was, “I don’t want to be perceived as being weak or incompetent.” So what’s the solution?
Add competence to the vulnerability!
To lead with vulnerability you need two things, vulnerability and leadership. I call this The Vulnerable Leader Equation, which is:
Vulnerability + Leadership = Leading With Vulnerability.
Take a look at the following examples to see the difference between being vulnerable, versus being a vulnerable leader.
The key difference is that a vulnerable leader is taking action when possible to close the gap, to demonstrate that they are learning, growing, getting better, and more competent. It’s not just about sharing something and exposing yourself to the emotional harm, the goal needs to be on action and on development, especially in a workplace setting.
If you want to be able to create trust, lead through change, drive business performance, and unlock the potential of those around you then you must combine competence with connection – vulnerability with leadership.
Whenever you are in a situation where you feel vulnerable or when you know vulnerability will be present. Ask yourself, “what can I do to add leadership to the equation?”
This will be the best thing that you can do for your own career and everyone around you.
You can learn more about the book and grab a copy here.
