Vulnerability and Confidence

Vulnerability and confidence, you say?

Aren’t these mutually exclusive?

While, on the surface, we might think we need to take on a shield of invulnerability to muster the confidence necessary to accomplish greatness…

I encourage you to think again.

Patrick Lencioni, in The Five Temptations of a CEO, taught us many years ago that one of the limiting temptations of many leaders is the belief that we must project we know all the answers and know exactly what we must do next.

Those we lead are smarter than that!

They realize that nobody can always have all of the answers.

When leaders “pretend” to be invulnerable, those they lead actually trust the leader less and view him or her as less than authentic.

When leaders instead possess sufficient self-confidence to embrace their strengths and weaknesses…

Leaders permit others to engage and to become more responsible for contributing to an ultimate solution or outcome.

One path to increased self-confidence is acknowledging what we don’t know and being comfortable with our own vulnerability.

DeAnna Murphy, founder of Strengths Strategy, summarizes it well when she says that our weaknesses exist so others can make a difference in our lives and in our organizations.

When we hide our weaknesses and limitations, in an effort to avoid vulnerability, we limit the contributions of others around us, and lead those we serve to question our authenticity.

Dr. Brene Brown, a professor at the University of Houston, and an expert on vulnerability, found in her research that what makes us vulnerable also makes us beautiful and creative.

To learn more about Dr. Brene Brown’s research on vulnerability, check out her TED talk called “The Power of Vulnerability”.

I encourage you to practice being “confidently vulnerable”.

When we let ourselves be seen, and stop trying to control and predict everything, we become better leaders and in the process we create better outcomes and better teams.