In my new book, Leading With Vulnerability, I interviewed over 100 CEOs around the world and surveyed nearly 14,000 employees in partnership with DDI. The goal of the book was to explore the difference between being vulnerable in your personal life versus being vulnerable at work and how current or aspiring leaders specifically should approach vulnerability in the RIGHT WAY. But what does that mean and how do you do that?
A vulnerable leader is a leader who intentionally opens themselves up to the potential of emotional harm while taking action to create a positive outcome when possible.
I discovered that vulnerability at work takes on different shapes and sizes, specifically 5 of them! I consider all 5 of these vulnerable leaders to be superheroes and like any superhero they all have their strengths and weakness. I put together a free PDF which breaks down all 5 of them including their strengths and weakness.
Read through each one of them and let me know which you are most comfortable with being.
Meet Professor Personal
Professor Personal is more comfortable being vulnerable around things outside of work.
They are liked by many since they are more comfortable talking about things like personal challenges and struggles, life outside of work, and giving insight into who they are as a person. As with Wonder Worker, it doesn’t mean Professor Personal won’t ever share things around work, but it’s not what they are most comfortable with.
Professor Personal is great at developing strong personal connections and relationships and oftentimes has quite a few friends at work. They give insight into who they are as a person and what they care about and value. This type of vulnerable leader also creates a positive work environment where people feel more comfortable being themselves. As a result the culture has high levels of engagement.
Although Professor Personal creates a positive culture where people feel like they belong, this superhero may struggle more often with imposter syndrome. They may also hinder their own (and their teams’) professional development.
Abilities:
- Develops strong personal connections and relationships.
- Gives people deep insight into who you are as a person.
- Creates a friendly and positive work environment where people can be their authentic selves.
- Creates high levels of engagement.
- Emotionally intelligent.
Weaknesses:
- May not always unlock the full professional potential of people.
- The best ideas and opportunities may not be surfaced on a team.
- Team professional development may be stalled.
- Imposter syndrome.
One CEO of a 16,000 person education company told me,
“I’m definitely more comfortable sharing things about my personal life with my team. It has helped me create some very close relationships and a culture where employees want to show up each day. I do talk about vulnerability in the context of work when I need to but it’s not in my comfort zone. Throughout my career I was never encouraged to talk about life outside of work and in fact I was explicitly told that I shouldn’t. However, now I see the value in doing that and my people know what I care about, what I stand for, what I believe in, and what a meaningful life looks like to me.”
The 5 superheroes are: Captain Heart, Professor Personal, Super Situational, Wonder Worker, and Balanced Beast. Download the PDF to learn about all of the 5 Vulnerable Leader Superheroes and which one you are most comfortable with. Knowing this will allow you to improve team dynamics and help you figure out what projects you should work on, how you should work, and what kind a leader you have the potential to become. Get the PDF here.
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