Secondsite Virtual Secretarial Services - Melbourne

Human nature being what it is, if you don’t show some weakness, then observers may invent one for you; stated in the Harvard Business Review 2000.

Unfortunately in today’s leadership world, our weaknesses can be held against us when fallen into the wrong hands. With the need to climb the corporate ladder with a confident background of competency and direction our choice to hide all weaknesses seems the preferred option.   But by hiding our weaknesses, are we also hiding who we really are, and for how long can we keep our true self from appearing?

I remember an interview with Kerry Packer; his intent was not to keep his dyslexia a secret, and stated he didn’t need to be the smartest man because he surrounded himself with the smartest people.  Kerry achieved two important areas of leadership with this one statement, as I remember thinking how proud I would be if I was one of the people that surrounded him.

Can identifying a weakness make us vulnerable to judgment and criticism or open us up to others for support and acceptance? I suppose this is a point of difference and depends on the relationship you have with your team. Let’s identify a common personal situation, if a person is going through a family crisis, would they seek guidance from the Brady Bunch or the Osborne family? Does revealing your strengths and weaknesses allow us the opportunity to be seen as a people’s leaders, and if we do not reveal our weaknesses, do we risk losing our followers?

Admitting you are wrong is a weakness that can be a positive. Usually being wrong is the result of someone else being right. Being recognized for owning a mistake can build trust and with trust we release pressure in taking risks allowing us to be creative, innovative and if mistakes are made it will be ok as we will learn from them, even share them.

Inspirational leaders rely heavily on their instincts to know when to reveal a weakness or a difference. A piece of paper can outweigh experience in many corporations today, yet if effective leaders are those who know when to reveal a weakness or a difference, wouldn’t this leader need the maturity to identify the genuine experience? Leaders must want to be a leader, and many talented employees are not interested in shouldering that responsibility as people do not commit to leaders who merely live up to the obligations of their jobs. They want more. They want someone who cares passionately about the people and the work – just as they do.