What’s One Quality Of A Leader That Will Drive Their Success?

It’s likely not what you think.

Or what you’ve read in all the leadership books.

So what is it?

Vulnerability.

It’s not vulnerability in the sense you may be thinking.

It’s vulnerability to:

1.   𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭.  being open to healthy debate. Welcoming the discussion. Celebrating all viewpoints. If everyone is saying yes to you and you’re not hearing feedback about anything - it’s time to pull back the covers and see what’s underneath them.
 
2.   𝐁𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 - it takes a ton of courage and resilience to attempt something new AND when we can acknowledge the heck of ourselves for doing that thing vs. criticize you’ve created something magical. You can constantly be evolving yourself, your team, your company, your product and service. 
 
3.   𝐁𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬. I often ask my clients what they aren’t willing to do to accomplish their goals. Knock on doors, cold call, post on social media - the list goes on for what has been. The reality trying something new creates risk. Risk of "looking bad" or "failing". And if you're not willing to try. You can be missing on achieving your goals.
 
4.   𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. When you can be vulnerable, you put words to how it made you feel, feel those feelings and move along. Trying to "stuff them down" can only make those feelings much uglier when they come back up.
 
5.   𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 - go back to number 1
 
6.   𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 - let go of doing it all ourselves.
 
7.   𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 - from our team, peers, leaders in the industry, Let’s face it - we’re not great at all things - we need a support system in place. I know that I’m not creative from an artistic perspective - it’s not my strength and I’m not going to spend my time and energy when I can ask a friend or hire something that IS excellent at it.
 
8.   𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Sometimes we experiment, we make a mess. That’s the point of experimenting. It also opens us up to criticism, hurt and rejection. (see #4)

When you’re vulnerable you’re playing a different game in leadership of yourself, your team and your organization. 
 
And the possibilities are endless.