Vulnerability. It’s so important to be vulnerable in different areas of life, and in multiple situations. However, professionally, it is so important to allow yourself to be vulnerable with your team.
While I consider myself a super positive person in general, as well as when I’m coaching and mentoring others, I realized I was in a place where perhaps I wasn’t practicing what I preach all the time. I could feel my “A-game” slowly slipping away from me. But why?
Well… those who know me understand that one of my primary core values has always been “family first”. I recently had a life-changing situation occur with my daughter which required that I immediately step up, and bottom line, I knew I had to be there for her, even though I wasn’t sure as to how long this support would be needed. Weeks? Months?
For those who may not be in the mentoring and coaching industry, let me say that being vulnerable is one of the most important things you can do to invest in yourself, not just from a business perspective but also to improve yourself personally. I was scheduled for my coaching call recently after the event with my daughter, and because I was vulnerable to share my situation with my coach, I learned that I also need to be more vulnerable with my team.
That would mean that I needed to send out an email to everyone reminding them of what my core values are and that I needed to practice what I preach and for the next several weeks, asking them to allow for me to have my “B-game” temporarily. I explained that my response time may be delayed, that I may be having a difficult day and that it has nothing to do with work. The result and responses were overwhelming with support and love. It made me realize how blessed I am to have the team that I get the honor to work beside each day. They could see how vulnerable I was in that moment and that I was now in need of their support, and without even asking for it, they offered it wholeheartedly.
So, my advice for leaders is that it’s okay to be vulnerable! Actually, it makes you more authentic, more human, more transparent. I mean, do we live behind a white picket fence with three kids and a dog where everything is perfect? No, of course not. As a leader, we must lead by example and embrace being vulnerable for my team to always understand the genuine and honest Grant Laviale.
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