What is vulnerability?
Yesterday’s Daily Tip discussed the importance of team trust and the costs of not having it.
But, as we all know, in competitive office cultures, building trust is easier said than done.
Why?
Because trust requires we be vulnerable with our teammates, and it’s hard to be vulnerable when we fear that vulnerability may be used against us.
Yet, when a team can be open enough to admit shortcomings and mistakes, the team can focus their energy, not on politics (being strategically disingenuous), but on the task at hand.
It’s like pruning dead leaves off a plant so the energy can go to the healthy shoots and leaves.
Vulnerability is a big word, a misunderstood word, a misused word.
Let’s narrow our definition to something concrete we can utilize.
Whether you’re a team leader or team member, exhibiting and encouraging these five aspects of vulnerability can help build a higher-performing team culture:
Professional weaknesses
Skill deficiencies
Interpersonal shortcomings (communications skills)
Mistakes
Requests for help.
Tomorrow’s Daily Tip will discuss how to these five specific types of vulnerability to build team trust.
