The Power of Vulnerability.

There’s so much positive noise around about authenticity, honesty, and vulnerability in the workplace that sometimes as a leader it’s hard to find a path through and feel like you are living up to expectations. When I started working back in the late 90s, workplace behaviour was all about strength, ‘showing up’ as tough and confident, and being able to work effectively in a man’s world (my career began in the male dominated brewery trade). Being honest, authentic or displaying any vulnerability went against the cultural grain and was most definitely career limiting!

Thank goodness the pendulum has now swung so far the other way with workplaces across many industries advocating cultures and actively encouraging people to bring their ‘whole self’ into work.  There is of course a good reason for this, aside from creating a more positive working environment. It’s been proven that authentic leaders build higher levels of trust, stronger collaboration and relationships and greater productivity - Source: HBR Online.

Here at Interaction we do an incredible amount of work with leaders in different organisations - providing input and skills to enable them to be more self-aware, ‘show up’ as themselves, stay true to their values and lead by example.

However, I know from my own experience that it is still a tough line to walk - even if at Interaction we absolutely value and actively encourage self-awareness, honesty, and empowerment. It requires vulnerability – which means I’m having to unlearn some of the coping strategies I adopted in my early career.

Of course there is also much positive noise about this – perhaps one of the more famous being Brene Brown who has, in my opinion brought ‘the power of vulnerability’ to the fore with her work.

So I just wanted to share something that was, for me, vulnerability with bells on!

Last weekend I went on a running weekend in the Brecon Beacons. Alongside 14 women from across the country we ran across hills and trails (which was brilliant in itself) as well as learning from a variety of experts about topics such as diet, bone health, menopause, and sporting resilience. I had offered to share my story about ‘running through life’ as someone who has had their fair share of adversity and used running as a means of shoring up my own mental and physical health.

I was totally out of my comfort zone but determined to do it in the hope that my story would help others. I was nervous. Actually, I was pretty terrified!

But now I’m on the other side, there is a sense of pride that I quietened my self-limiting beliefs long enough to take a huge risk and put myself in a very vulnerable position … and that it paid off!  The group told me how much they valued and appreciated it. I felt both relieved and pleased!

So, what have I learnt from this? For me it’s timely that it’s both Learning at Work Week and Mental Health Awareness Week. Why? Because my story links to both. Actually it’s more of a combined ‘Learning in Life’ example. As whole people our working and personal lives are wonderfully intertwined as is our mental and physical health. We can learn from our experiences on all sides. For me the ongoing challenge is to find ways at work to be more comfortable with vulnerability – and see what it brings.