Appropriate Vulnerability Part 1: What is It?

Vulnerability is still a bad word in a lot of corporate environments. Wall Street culture is pervasive, and people are trained to be tough above everything else. Despite being more in focus today than any other time in history, it’s still not the norm - even Brené Brown has been asked to avoid the topic of vulnerability when speaking to Fortune 1000 companies. But appropriate vulnerability isn’t a weakness.

Getting comfortable with appropriate vulnerability gives you and your team an edge over others who aren’t. Once you’ve created a safe environment for vulnerability, less time is spent on faking it and more on failing fast, growing and being innovative.

So, what is appropriate vulnerability and why do you need it as a business leader? On today’s episode, Mathew and I take a look at appropriate vulnerability and what it means in a corporate setting. We look at how Wall Street culture has influenced corporate standards of vulnerability, how vulnerability can help your company to be more creative and innovative, why you need vulnerability to build trust, how your team can benefit from vulnerability, and so much more!

You’re also going to want to look out for next week’s episode where we’ll be going deeper into appropriate vulnerability by looking at how to let yourself be vulnerable, how to identify your vulnerability and how to accept that vulnerability once you’ve identified it.

Key Topics:

● Why it’s still difficult for a lot of people to talk about vulnerability (2:28)
● An example of appropriate vulnerability at the CEO level (3:18)
● My definition of appropriate vulnerability (4:07)
● How vulnerability heightens your interactions with others (4:40)
● Why vulnerability is essential in building trust (6:21)
● The link between vulnerability, creativity, and innovation (8:05)
● How Wall Street culture negatively influences the corporate perception of vulnerability (9:35)
● Using vulnerability to create a safe environment for your team and company (11:02)
● How a culture of vulnerability facilitates growth and learning (12:15)
● Why you have to learn to be okay with not having all the answers (13:11)
● I share some of my own core vulnerabilities and how I got in touch with them (13:42)
● And much more!

Mentioned in this Episode:

● Why Do So Many Managers Avoid Giving Praise?
● Brené Brown
● Brené Brown’s TED talks

See the show notes and a transcript at https://sheerclarity.com/podcasts/appropriate-vulnerability-part-1-what-is-it