A weekly thought for leaders with the courage to introspect.
Vulnerability. The leadership risk no one likes to talk about.
Are you a CEO? A director? A boss of a large organization?
Then I expect you are doing well. Outwardly, certainly.
You run a successful business. You have influence, status, results.
And yetโฆ
The bigger your company gets.
The more success you achieve.
The more complex your world.
โฆthe greater the chance that you will ultimately become unhappy.
That's not good news. But it is realistic.
Because leadership does not come without a price tag.
The higher you climb, the greater the risk of derailing.
Not at work, but privately.
In your relationships.
In your health.
In your emotions.
I see it every week in my work.
CEOs getting addicted.
To success.
To alcohol.
To food.
On cocaine.
CEOs struggling with relationship problems.
With divorces.
With the removal of their children.
Not because they are bad people.
But because they made sacrifices.
Leadership requires sacrifices.
Always.
That's the law.
What you do very well in one place always comes at the expense of something else.
Taking the damage and feeling the call to repair that damage, that is your vulnerability.
Every leader is vulnerable.
You too.
But do you dare to show it?
Dare to speak out:
โIt's tough.โ
โI'm tired.โ
โI'm afraid for my health.โ
โI'm losing control over my family.โ
Most CEOs don't dare to do that.
They are building a facade.
They become untouchable.
Invulnerable.
The Hulk of the boardroom.
But that is precisely where the risk lies.
Because leaders who seem invulnerableโฆ
ultimately stand alone.
Why?
Because they always solved their own problems.
Because no one ever heard of them wrestling.
So why would people suddenly stand next to you now?
So vulnerability is not weakness.
It's leadership.
Of the highest order.
Not for your image.
Not for the outside world.
Primarily for yourself.
Talking is discharging.
Talking is creating space.
To talk is to become clear.
Say it out loud.
To whom?
That matters less than you think.
(As long as it's not the junior secretaryโฆ)
Because whoever shows himself as a human beingโฆ
gets people back.
Organizations are often dehumanized.
That's why trust, support and vulnerability are rare today.
And therefore expensive.
Leaders who want to carry everything themselves may survive for a long time.
But not together.
Not worn.
Because if you've always done everything aloneโฆ
โฆwhen the going gets really tough, youโre really alone!
—
The space between the words is where insight arises.
Until next week when our thoughts touch again.
Hans Ruinemans
The Boardroom Monk โฏ๏ธ