I recently listened to emerging leaders share their stories of initiating change in their organization as part of a leadership development program we are facilitating. As they shared their stories so they chose to BE vulnerable – exposing their fears, insecurities, areas of weakness and concerns about being able to change.
Vulnerability is such a strength – to watch and feel the movement created in the room as people shared their stories was inspiring.
Someone shared how his heart was about to leap out of his chest he was so nervous. Another person shared the feedback they received about when they operated at their “worst” and how saddened they felt and how committed they felt to changing this.
What we experienced was a group of emerging leaders who dropped their egos. We had a room full of real people standing up and sharing with their colleagues and their bosses who had joined us at the back of the room. When you are real other people can’t help but respond and empathize in a real way – in the moment. After all we all want to belong and we all want to do our best – this is human nature!
Courageous leaders allow themselves to BE vulnerable – let the learning and the people come into their lives. What a difference we can make as leaders if we adopt this philosophy and principal!!
