We need to be honest with you

01 maart 2021

Ok, so here’s a confession: This month’s blog post was a difficult one to write.

See, we like to work around monthly themes and this month things just felt.. a little wobbly. The inspiration didn’t flow, the dots didn’t connect and piecing things together took longer than it was supposed to.

But it turns out that life is quite ironic (or poetic, depending on your mood today), because our theme this month is all about managing our personal resources. And amongst them? Vulnerability, self-examination, communication — and yes — acknowledging our flaws, to become better people.

And better leaders of course.

So let’s start this month by admitting that we aren’t perfect, because it turns out that our vulnerabilities make us even more vulnerable.. when we pretend they don’t exist.

Now even if you’re with us on that one, you might wonder ‘How does one become (more) vulnerable?’ Or introspective for that matter? What if that’s just not your thing?

A good place to start is by simply asking yourself some questions;

• How much are you thinking about and analyzing yourself?
• What are your motivations?
• What are you anxious about?
• And not to be neglected — to what extent are you being honest about all of the above?

Taking a step back, assessing yourself with honesty and kindness, can be a tremendously powerful tool in your responsibility to grow and develop as a leader.

Now a second resource you should consider tapping into, is bouncing off of others.

And at first glance it might not feel natural to walk into a meeting and tell your colleagues about how you struggled managing your team last month.. but you should consider doing so anyway.

Because sharing our challenges with others, gives us access to feedback and perspectives we might otherwise miss out on.

But even more so, being open about our flaws invites others to do the same, creating a culture of interactive responsibility in which everyone learns to empathize with, encourage and support each other.

(Does that sound nicer than the alternative in which everyone quietly pretends to have their stuff figured out? It does, doesn’t it?)

Basically, what we want you to take away from this flawed piece of writing is that the more you get to be yourself, shortcomings included, the more space you create for self-acceptance to flourish.

And self-acceptance happens to be the golden nugget that will make you a better leader and turn you into a happier human too.

So we wish you good luck on your journey, and if you feel like sharing your #flaws with us this month, connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.

We’d love to hear all about them!