When times are tough, your tendency may be to suffer in silence and put on a brave face. While this may seem like a good way to appear infallible, but it can also hurt others around you. If you don’t allow yourself to talk about difficulties or struggles, then others around you won’t come forward about their own struggles. In a work environment, this can be detrimental to productivity and employee morale. Being vulnerable is difficult, so here are ways to get started leading with vulnerability:
Admit Failure
How you deal with failure shows a lot about your character and temperament. If you fail and try to pin it on others or on circumstances, people will be less likely to trust you. When you fail, you need to be honest. Share where you went wrong and the steps you are taking to fix your mistakes. This will make you more trustworthy and is a simple way to be more vulnerable.
Be Authentic
Your employees and co-workers can tell when you’re being authentic and will appreciate when you are. Be open about when you feel nervous or are unsure. Of course, doing this too much will make your employees feel nervous as well. Make sure to also talk about what you honestly believe is going well and give honest positive feedback. This will make your employees trust you and will make it easier to be vulnerable.
Drop Your Ego
Being vulnerable presents a threat to your image and pride. There is good reason to feel nervous about being vulnerable when you could so quickly be torn down. So drop your ego. Make vulnerability more about others than it is about yourself. Share so others will feel more comfortable sharing and give honest feedback so everyone can progress together. If being vulnerable is more about helping others than yourself, you will find yourself being more readily vulnerable with the people you work with.
Following this advice will make it so you have a more open, honest workplace where people feel comfortable being vulnerable.