Ask Sanyin: What Does Vulnerability Really Mean for Leaders?
In challenging times, employees need reassurance that their concerns are valid — and that they can persevere by working together as a team.
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Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader
Business uncertainty creates anxiety for leaders and employees alike. Trying to ignore the situation won’t make the problem — or people’s feelings — go away, suggests MIT SMR columnist and CEO coach Sanyin Siang. Teams need their leaders to acknowledge and validate their concerns, be honest about the situation, and reassure them that they will face the challenges together. Such a response facilitates connection and trust that can empower team members to persevere through disruption.
At a time of increased uncertainty throughout our business, I feel that it’s important to be a rock, and to show positivity, for the people on my team. But I know it’s important to show more vulnerability at times like this. How can I do both?
It’s easy to equate vulnerability with sharing your own anxieties. But for leaders, the point of vulnerability is to meet your people where they are and let them see that you can relate to how they are feeling. They won’t trust you to lead them if they don’t think you understand them.
Vulnerability is powerful only if it fosters connection and shared learning. Some leaders are innately unflappable, and it’s a challenge for them to connect with their team’s anxieties. If you’re feeling some of that anxiety, celebrate your humanness — it’s what enables you to connect! The challenge for you is to be disciplined and intentional about what you do with that connection. How are you going to ferry them (and yourself) from that point across to hope and possibility?
Consider how you are trying to boost morale. If you are a relentlessly positive “rock” who hides your own worries, you may invalidate your team members’ feelings about difficult realities — and also lose credibility with overly optimistic reassurances. But being vulnerable enough to admit that you, too, are anxious, and acknowledging concerns, sets you up to rally others. The kind of optimism they need is your confidence that by coming together as a team, you can collectively solve problems. When you admit that you don’t have all the answers, you can frame that as an invitation for others to contribute their ideas.
Being honest about tough situations makes it easier for your team to be frank about what they observe. After all, it’s hard to speak up about problems if your boss minimizes negative news. But in difficult times, it’s critical to have a culture that surfaces problems quickly. Without honest feedback, you will have a harder time getting ahead of your challenges.
You can also be a steadying influence by remembering to call out the good things you see. No matter how strong the headwinds in your business, there will be small wins and moments to celebrate.