Vulnerability as a Key to Good Hiring and Great Leadership
Vulnerability does not have to be this bad
Vulnerability is a key to good hiring. It is a key to great Leadership as well.
My workers know a key value for our company is Transparency which is deep vulnerability.
For us to be great at finding great hires, we have to be experts on transparency (yes, vulnerability).
So, I was at the GLS Summit a while back in Shanghai. It is a fire hose of good thinking on leadership.
Researcher Brene Brown spoke on Vulnerability and Shame . Actually, you could join 12 Million people if you click on those TED talks.
Being a guy who really focuses on deeper vulnerability, I was impressed by what she said and surprised that I had never heard of her or these TED Talks, I guess I do not get out enough.
I never used the word shame in those blogs though, so that is a new insight for me.
We should hire people who are comfortable with their own skin.
Vulnerability is Key to Great Leadership
People who cannot be comfortable with their own skin feel a lot of shame. They feel they are not good enough. They may seem confident, but they are not well behind the facade. Company leaders carrying shame do not like themselves and therefore do not like others. Companies do well to hire people who like themselves and feel comfortable with themselves. This is often shown by their ability to be vulnerable. Brene notes that shame lives in secrecy, silence, and judgement.
If you want to improve your own leadership, then you need to think through where you feel shame and how you can get to be more vulnerable. Powerful leaders have openness and not secrecy about themselves and what they do and have done. Finding those kinds of leaders is a key to our premium recruiting success.