Turning Vulnerability into Vulnerable Leadership: When Words and Actions Merge

(Image credit: Jacob Morgan)

By Steve Johnson

A lot has been said about vulnerability in business recently…especially as a growing competency in leaders. But a vulnerable leader is different than vulnerable leadership…and that is due to the fact that words and actions need to be combined to reach peak power.

Vulnerability means a state of emotional exposure that comes with a degree of uncertainty. When intentional, it is about demonstrating your shortcomings and welcoming the risk that comes with it.

However, we want leadership – our leaders – to have fortitude, to exhibit confidence, and to show courage. Simply being vulnerable undermines all of that.

Vulnerable leadership requires communication and actions.

There is a self-awareness that comes with vulnerability. A good leader will note when she has made the wrong decision…or if they are hesitant about a choice…or if he’ll need feedback. And that leader also may ask for the same openness from colleagues. It helps to build stronger relationships.

But if a leader is only expressing vulnerability – and only welcomes vulnerability – then the workplace becomes a doctors’ therapist’s. Vulnerability becomes a hall pass for leaders and staff to offload every personal life problem, office gripe, or perceived slight. Expressing only vulnerability can weaken confidence in leadership.

It is when that leader communicates what comes next – how to learn and move forward – that vulnerability evolves into vulnerable leadership. Jacob Morgan, a self-proclaimed “futurist,” demonstrates this well in his book Leading With Vulnerability. He juxtaposes a couple of examples to make his point.

Back in 1991, Hollis Harris, the then-CEO of Continental Airlines told his 42,000 employees to “pray for the future of the company” – and he was fired a day later. What Hollis did was vulnerable, but it was not leadership. On the flip side was Fleetwood Grobler, the CEO of Sasol – a South African chem-energy company that was $13B in debt pre-pandemic. He, too, had to address his workforce, but his message sounded like this (per Morgan):

“I have a vision of where we can go … I believe in you and our team and our customers. Come with me, and we can turn things around.”

This isn’t much different from issues management or crisis management. All talk and no action kills credibility. All action and no talk kills connectivity.

Be vulnerable. Communicate. But it is the action to lead to a positive outcome that changes things – that makes for vulnerable leadership.

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