Post 2 in The Series: What do Vulnerable Leaders Do Differently?

Vulnerable Leaders are models of humility. 

We often hear that raising children today comes with different challenges than it did years ago. We are in the “age of the selfie” where social media feeds of achievements, accomplishments, and accolades are common and celebrated.  If we are not careful, the self-concept of a child is shaped through these very feeds and their need for affirmation is unquenchable.  Insecurity becomes masked as arrogance and lessons of humility are lost. 

Today’s leaders face the same pressures.  Vulnerable leaders don’t fall for it.  Our self-concepts are not shaped by the affirmation of others, the number of followers, the number of likes, or the number of people we make happy.  We are shaped through honest reflection.  We spend a lot of time behind the scenes in reflection on reading the pulse of those we serve, seeking feedback and the voice, and ways to connect more deeply to others on our team, not to promote ourselves, but to further the goals of the team. 

Vulnerable Leaders have short email signatures, park in the back, and rarely post pictures of themselves. We don’t mask celebrations of others as opportunities for self-promotion. We are more interested in the empowerment of others than we are our own legacies.  Vulnerable leaders chose leadership not to make a name for ourselves, but to make a difference in others.  We listen intently to others, always in a learning stance.  We value the contributions of others and are aware of the weight of our presence and voice in all situations.  We are always working to get better at active listening.  

We recognize leadership comes with lots of hard conversations and when hard conversations arise the first thing others will wonder is who is this change for.  Is this change for you, the leader, to make you look good, or please those you report to?  Or is this change aligned with the beliefs of our organization? The humble actions of a leader are never under greater scrutiny than when change is being inspired and expected. Vulnerable leaders model humility in times of change by sharing personal stories of struggle in adapting to change, modeling learning alongside those implementing the change, and celebrating often the wins of others as change is being implemented.  We shy away from oversimplifying the change and attempting to lead the change from too high a level. This creates a look of elitism. 

Humility in vulnerable leaders is having confidence in our ability to lead but knowing we have a lot to learn.  Vulnerable leaders are acutely self-aware.  We recognize self-doubt can threaten humility.  In these times of self-doubt, we are careful to watch for the need to please, or overvalue public perception. Instead, we use the strengths of our team members to learn and move the organization forward.  

Vulnerable leaders find the most joy in watching others shine around them.  It’s what brings us to work daily.  We are constantly looking for ways to work ourselves out of a job.  Isn't that the true definition of leadership?  Those you serve don’t need you any longer.