Tapping power of fear drives creativity, innovation

WHAT does “vulnerability” mean to you? I believe that vulnerability may not be a weakness.

What does vulnerability mean to you? To many people it means shame, disappointment or embarrassment. I believe that vulnerability may not be a weakness.

Let me tell you of a time when I felt vulnerable. I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, paralysed with fear.

I was thinking of starting a business. I was anxious and totally scared. What might happen if I failed? What if I weren’t good enough? Yet somehow, in my vulnerability, I took the leap.

Vulnerability is power. If it weren’t for vulnerability, I would never have jumped off that cliff. Vulnerability is power, although I didn’t realise it at the time. It’s the power of release.

Being vulnerable is not easy. It activates the parts of the brain that want us to run and hide, that lizard part of the brain that focuses on keeping you alive. Surprisingly, though, the brain also can be your best ally.

Social researcher Brene Brown says: “Vulnerability is not about fear and grief and disappointment. It’s the birthplace of everything we’re hungry for: joy, creativity, faith, love, spirituality. And the whole thing is, there is no innovation and creativity without failure.” In an interview for Forbes magazine she goes on to say, “When you shut down vulnerability, you shut down opportunity.” In her opinion, entre­preneurship is all about vulnerability and that’s what gives us the power to face risk, just as I did when I began my business.

The great news is that by understanding vulnerability, we can create supportive environments and techniques not only for ourselves but for those around us. As leaders, we can use the power of vulnerability to create teams that are open to change, creativity and innovation. Can you imagine how powerful and effective your team would be if they embraced vulnerability?

As leader, you need to create an environment in which it is safe for your team members to expose their vulnerabilities.

When facing risk, the hippocampus of your brain can help you overcome your fear by drawing on the memory of similar circumstances in which you managed yourself well. The hippocampus involves memory and learning, so it helps us put situations into context, based on our experiences. It allows us to know how to react and when it’s OK to express our vulnerability. It releases us.

What that means for leaders is that you need to build opportun­ities for success into the process of exploring vulnerability, to store in or stimulate the hippocampus. You may need to help your team members notice what is happening to them during those moments of vulnerability.

The more mindful they are, the more information is stored in the hippocampus, to be drawn on later, when they need it.

By creating this environment, you are activating parts of the brain where trust, engagement and connection are truly working.

A trait that seems to be a weakness is actually a strength. Imagine a team that is strong enough to show vulnerability and confident enough to be creative, loyal, adaptable and focused. It’s a team in which each member has learned to trust themselves in the face of risk, and that is powerful.

Vulnerability starts with you. Are you going to jump off the cliff and be seen?

Sonia McDonald is a director of LeadershipHQ.