Message of the Day - To be trusted, you first need to be vulnerable

Good Morning,

 

Welcome new recipients!!!

 

A few years back I asked my team at that time to give me a list of what they perceived to be my strengths and weaknesses. I had a pretty good idea of what they were, but my perceptions were most likely different from my teams. In their eyes, it did not matter what I felt, it was what they saw which how they saw me.

 

I asked each team member to list out some strengths and weaknesses and to be as honest that they felt they could be with the weaknesses. I promised that only good would come from this.

 

When the lists came in, I thanked the team for sharing both the strengths and the weaknesses. I wanted them to know that their feedback was truly welcomed.

 

Sorting through the lists, there were more strengths listed than weaknesses. This was to be expected, but there was important information here. There were weaknesses that my team shared with me.

 

To me, the listed weaknesses were more important than the strengths. These represented opportunities for my growth AND that my team trusted me enough to share these weaknesses with me.

 

What I did next helped bring my team to a higher level of production. This team (some of whom still receive these emails) has been one of my most memorable teams and the most productive I have ever worked with.

 

So, what did I do?

 

I simply addressed the list of weaknesses, which included some pet peeves and concerns that the team had about me, my actions and my behavior. I did not ignore any of the weaknesses. Not one. As I worked to stop or lesson the amount of activities which my team felt were my weaknesses or just did not like, my team saw that I did care about them. More importantly, they saw, by my actions, that I cared about what they thought. This team was engaged!!

 

By making myself more vulnerable to my team, I took that team to a whole new level of performance. Their trust in me and our in our mission soared! I am happy to say that nearly all of the team members on that team when I was put in charge of another team have since been promoted into management (and that is a message for another day).

 

To be trusted as a leader, you first have to be vulnerable.

 

Enjoy!!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

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