Why CEOs Should Model Vulnerability; Harvard Business Review (HBR), May

Jeffrey Cohn and 

U. Srinivasa Rangan

, Harvard Business Review (HBR); Why CEOs Should Model Vulnerability

"Set the Right Tone at the Top

Some CEOs still view vulnerability as a weakness. That’s too bad. Long gone are the days when CEOs can pretend to be omniscient. A crisis will quickly expose a leader’s weaknesses and blind spots. If he or she pretends to have all the answers and is reluctant to admit mistakes or ask for help, others in the leadership pipeline will almost assuredly adopt this same perspective. Because the leader casts a long shadow, this kind of obstinacy will inevitably create a downward spiral of succession failure, like it did at General Electric, Wells Fargo, and Boeing. On the other hand, CEOs willing to embrace vulnerability and transparency will create a uniquely fertile culture in which thinking deeply about one’s blind spots and development needs is not only tolerated, it’s encouraged and rewarded."

Leaders Are Crying on the Job. Maybe That’s a Good Thing.; The New York Times, May 3, 2020

Jessica Bennett, The New York Times; Leaders Are Crying on the Job. Maybe That’s a Good Thing.

"“The days when a politician cried and it was over for them — that’s over, ” [Pam Sherman, a leadership coach based in Rochester, N.Y.] said. “Things like empathy, vulnerability, emotional connectedness — these are the things that define today’s leaders.”

In other words: the leadership traits that, traditionally, have been associated with women."

Marriott’s CEO Demonstrates Truly Authentic Leadership In A Remarkably Emotional Video; Forbes, March 21, 2020

Carmine Gallo, Forbes; Marriott’s CEO Demonstrates Truly Authentic Leadership In A Remarkably Emotional Video

"Authentic leadership is, by definition, real and genuine. Authenticity is more than a management buzzword. It’s a way of acting and communicating that inspires loyalty. 

Marriott International CEO, Arne Sorenson, is an authentic leader and he proved it this week with the release of a 6-minute video to Marriott employees, shareholders, and customers. 

“This is what leadership sounds like,” one person said after watching the video on Twitter. Others said Sorenson’s video was “heartfelt and inspiring.” Yet another Twitter said, “a master class in leadership.” 

What, exactly, did Sorenson do that elicited such an outpouring of favorable comments? 

In short, Sorenson lowered the shield. He was candid, vulnerable, humble, emotional and hopeful."

What If a Female CEO Acted Like Elon Musk?; The New York Times, August 17, 2018

Marina Koren, The New York Times; What If a Female CEO Acted Like Elon Musk?

"Self-reflection, vulnerability, acknowledgment of the effects of work on one’s well-being—these are admirable qualities in a leader of any company. And it is important, in a culture that too often rewards work at the expense of well-being, to discuss openly the often unsustainable results of that culture.

But as I watched the responses to Musk’s tell-all roll in, I tried to imagine what would happen if a female CEO of a major company gave a similar interview. How would she be perceived?

Both men and women take a risk when they reveal stressors or struggles, but their candor doesn’t usually garner the same reaction. For women, the risks of being open are far greater, and they can manifest in tangible ways."

How A Cleaning Lady Inspired Awesome Leadership; Forbes, June 2, 2018

Laura Rittenhouse, Forbes; How A Cleaning Lady Inspired Awesome Leadership

"In an interview with Adam Bryant of The New York Times, Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger shared a lesson he learned in college during a business strategy final exam.  Bettinger needed to ace the test so he could graduate with a 4.0.  He spent hours reviewing formulas and case studies.  On the day of the exam, his professor handed out just one sheet of paper and asked the class to turn it over.   It was blank.  He explained, “I’ve taught you everything I can teach you about business in the last 10 weeks, but… the most important question is this: What’s the name of the lady who cleans this building?” Bettinger was stunned.  It was the only test he ever failed.

 He told Bryant, “…I got the B I deserved. Her name was Dottie, and I didn’t know Dottie. I’d seen her, but I’d never taken the time to ask her name. I’ve tried to know every Dottie I’ve worked with ever since.”  The experience taught him “…you should never lose sight of people who do the real work.”  Bettinger’s lesson in humility impressed me.  By revealing his failure to Bryant, he chose to be vulnerable.  Instead of pounding his chest in the interview, he opened his heart...

Awesome leaders who act with integrity are more likely to be smart risk-takers.  To be adaptive, authentic and accountable means to keep one’s eye on the prize and lead with integrity.  The word “integrity” means to be whole.  To be whole means to care about others, even those who may be different from us.  This leads to awesome empathy – the ability to stand in someone else’s shoes and see what their world looks like.

For Walt Bettinger, it meant learning the name of the woman who cleaned his classroom."

The Best Man for the Job is a Woman | Leading From the Library; Library Journal, 10/23/13

Steven Bell, Library Journal; The Best Man for the Job is a Woman | Leading From the Library: "Self-awareness is key to identifying one’s areas of weakness, whether male or female, and then working to build strength in those areas, according to John Gerzema, author of new book The Athena Doctrine, which argues that traits classically considered feminine are essential to effective leadership today. In his surveys of over 60,000 adults, the qualities most desired in leaders were patience, expressiveness, intuition, flexibility, empathy, and many other traits identified by respondents as feminine. Yet 81 percent of those surveyed said leaders required a balance of male and female traits. Gerzema believes that, while masculine traits are still the ticket to top executive positions, a shift is occurring. He advises leaders to aim for somewhere in between Venus and Mars, and identifies multiple trends that point to workplace changes in which a more feminine leadership will emerge as the preferred style... Does the current debate about whether men and women should be more like the opposite sex apply to the library world? It is a predominantly female profession, so one might think that the observation of feminine qualities among the profession’s leaders would be nothing new. Though the statistical over-representation of men in formal leadership positions, such as dean and directors, might suggest that even in our mostly female workforce, it is the male traits that enable individuals to acquire leadership roles. The real challenge, as I see it, is how leaders learn to morph their leadership styles with traits not typically associated with their gender. This may be where self-awareness, reflection, 360-degree reviews, and other techniques are of use in better understanding our own strengths and weaknesses as leaders. Both men and women can learn from each other as well, to develop the skills that individuals seek in their leaders. Each improvement we make, as we adapt these new skills to our leadership style, will help us to boost the quality of library leadership."

Corner Office, Interview with Robin Domeniconi, senior vice president and chief brand officer for the Elle Group; New York Times, 1/16/11

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Robin Domeniconi, senior vice president and chief brand officer for the Elle Group: Say Anything, but Phrase It the Right Way:

"Q. What would say if you were asked to speak to a group of young entrepreneurs about building a culture at a company?

A. I could boil that down to two words. One is trust. You need to trust everyone you work with — and it goes into personal relationships, too — because the only thing that creates jealousy, the only thing that creates fear, is that you’re not trusting or understanding something.

Communication is the second one. If you can communicate what your fears are, your challenges are, and if you trust that the people you work with all want the right outcome, then the environment is going to create itself. It really does. If you have complete and utter trust in somebody, you’re going to really be able to be vulnerable.

It all comes down to that. It all comes down to trusting that you’re going to be O.K. with what I’m going to say, and me trusting that you’re going to be O.K. that I made a mistake, as in: “You know that risk we took? We failed. We lost money here. But this is what we learned, and you’re going to be O.K.” You’ve got to trust me, and I’ve got to trust you."