Shouldering Leadership

All of us have to lead somewhere along the line. Whether it’s to lead ourselves through a situation or a time period, to lead a family or partnership, to lead a team, business or community. Leadership through crisis or change adds even more scrutiny and analysis to the requirements of strong and effective leadership.

Two words continue to come to the forefront — Agility and Vulnerability. To lead well in this day and age, you must be considered to have both.

Agility is the ability to cope with rapid change and to make decisions accordingly. The dictionary describes vulnerability as “the inability to withstand the effects of a hostile environment”. Bulletproof and unemotional leadership won’t do anymore. “Disconnected” and stoic leadership are things of the past. Vulnerability is the ability to feel and connect — to yourself and how you do things; to your team and their needs; to your marketplace and the needs of your clients and community. Vulnerability is something we’re starting to realise is a massive strength to leadership, but it’s not something that’s easy. No… vulnerability is HARD. That’s why it takes strong leadership to master it and use it to communicate.

Mother Teresa said “Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.” Leadership requires some fairly strong stuff from us…