A carefully verified image sometimes slows us down in development, especially in a leading position in business. Why the opportunity to show your vulnerability is the path of strong and successful people?
“It seemed to me that my work with the team at the training was successful until the general director suddenly left the room. We were in the middle of the group process, and people just began to open … ”-says consultant on changes in Gustavo Rosetti. It helps participants in working meetings to concentrate on problems and solve them most effective, contributes to the creation of a comfortable atmosphere and mutual understanding between people.
We reflect each other
Studies have shown that our brain reflects what others feel and do. We may not be aware of the signals read by the brain, but the body reacts. Therefore, we smile in response to a smile, explains Rosetti. And if we are smiling insincerely, we will most likely feel uncomfortable. Therefore, in teamwork, as in any communication, sincerity is important.
One of the participants in the training, the general director of the company, realized that I was not ready to be “good for everyone” anymore. Others used it in their interests. She was not going to leave the team, but from now on her own goals and aspirations became a priority. This happened after she wrote her own necrologist at the suggestion of Rosetti.
Openness can cause sympathy. This is a great power, and the whole thing is in understanding. It helps us see the uniqueness of another
Both she and her colleagues gradually opened to each other. “This makes us visible to others,” the facilitator believes. When someone next to us suppresses our feelings, we cannot realize them and determine that a person, for example, is angry or upset. But at the same time, according to the results of research, its anger can increase our blood pressure.
Openness can cause sympathy. This is a great power, and it’s not about pity, but in understanding. It helps us to see the uniqueness of another person, respect his ideas, thoughts and experiences. And find communication options.
Openness and vulnerability
But in order to be open, you need courage. Openness is accompanied by vulnerability. Is it so terrible as it seems to some?
Leaders are often taught to
keep a distance and create an ideal image. Look flawless, control the rest and do it confidently. Revealing vulnerability before the command is considered a manifestation of weakness. The director of the company, which was at the training of Rosetti, left the room not because she was unhappy with her team. She ceased to feel comfortable “in her own skin”. Her employees were able to open, but she was not. Trying, she felt naked and fled.
The team, like the family, is a system of interconnected elements. The transformation of the system begins with personal changes. “Revolutionaries” in the world of business are a kind of rebels who dare to be vulnerable and allow themselves to make mistakes. Bringing Jobs to the example of Steve, Rosetti writes: “They ask questions that do not have others. Look at the problem from different points of view. Do not claim to know all the answers. Not afraid to look ignorant or stumble “.