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Introduction
Dr. Brené Brown popularized vulnerability research through her years of research on shame. Utilizing vulnerability daily can “demonstrate transparency and an openness to emotional exposure” (Lopez, 2018, ix) with others. This chapter aims to dive deeper into the measure of vulnerability and how it is closely related to trust, courage, self-awareness, and three leadership styles: authentic, ethical, and transformational.
Vulnerability: Definition and Myths
Definitions of vulnerability among researchers vary but include similar components of putting trust in another (Lapidot, Kark & Shamir, 2007), acknowledging failure (Ito & Bligh, 2017), and risking emotional exposure (Crouch, 2016 and Brown, 2012a). Gambetta (1988) describes vulnerable individuals as those who instill trust in others and believe that no harm will come to them (Lapidot, Kark & Shamir, 2007, p. 17). Displaying vulnerability can also be a chance to embrace changes and challenges while feeling safe enough to acknowledge failure (Ito & Bligh, 2017, p. 67). Vulnerability is emotional exposure (Brown, 2012a) that threatens the loss “of our sense of self” (Crouch, 2016, p. 41). Cléro (2018) adds that “vulnerability should be differentiated from weakness or from the frailty that results from it” (p. 6). Brown further states that “we think about vulnerability as a dark emotion. We think of vulnerability at the core of fear and shame and grief and disappointment, things that we do not want to feel” (Brown, 2012a). Yet facing the complex “dark emotion” can lead to “every positive emotion that we need in our lives: love, belonging, joy, empathy” (Brown, 2012a).
For this paper, I will define vulnerability as “the emotion we experience during times of uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure” (Brown, 2018, p. 19).
“When a leader embraces failure and shares vulnerability with humility, followers can connect with the leader emotionally and are more likely to share feelings of vulnerability themselves” (Ito & Bligh, 2017, p.67). Some examples of actions that a vulnerable leader might take include reaching out to an employee with an ill child or family member, checking in with a coworker who experienced a recent loss, or taking responsibility for a mistake at work (Seppälä, 2014). “Collaboration, then, as a way to be morally accountable, requires a deep understanding of vulnerability: the generosity, humility, and patience needed to work through conflicts, misunderstandings, and miscommunications” (Pignatelli, 2011, p. 223).
In her book, The Power of Vulnerability, Dr. Brené Brown identifies four myths regarding vulnerability and then adds two more in Dare to Lead for a total of six:
- Vulnerability is a character defect and weakness (Brown, 2012a).
- “I don’t do vulnerability” (Brown, 2012a).
- “That we can create a culture in our family, in our work, and the big culture that we live in even and that we can do this alone” (Brown, 2012a).
- “You can trust without vulnerability. It