Famous author, Ernest Hemingway said, “We are all broken, that’s how the light gets in.”
For example, an authentic ancient Egyptian vase doesn’t lose value when it has a few cracks.
I like to think we are all works in progress, and breaks happen along the way. Our leadership shouldn’t be about perfection although we may pursue it.
Too often, we expect our teams- and ourselves- to be flawless for some reason. Our imperfections are actually what make us authentic. Masking them, as tempting as it is, would make us phony.
People stay at places where there is psychological safety. When you are free to be yourself, the environment changes for the better- You can have a culture of accountability, creativity, service, and quality. People want to have a role in keeping a healthy culture at work when they are valued for who they are.
We when extend grace to our teams, our families, and ourselves, we create space for growth.
Our most influential moments are not when we have all the answers, but when we admit that we don’t… and rely on the imperfect collaboration of those around us.
People would rather follow a leader is always real rather than one who is always right.
