Can vulnerable leadership actually improve team performance?
In my case, it helped me double my team’s output in less than a year.
When I took over my TV department, I was dealing with two challenges:
One was personal. I had chronic health conditions that were painful, drained my energy, and sometimes put me in the hospital.
The second was a team issue. Output was dropping. Quality was slipping and Morale wasn’t great. But the biggest problem was… no one really knew why.
As a result, I had no idea how to fix this.
Using An Awkward Moment As a Leadership Opportunity
But I did know how to deal with the first problem, except for one thing. It meant creating a vulnerable and awkward moment.
At our first national meeting, I decided to address it head-on. I told the team I had some health challenges. Now, I didn’t go into a lot of detail, and I didn’t make it emotional. I just kept it simple and practical.
I said, “Here’s what I’m dealing with. It may mean I have to leave early sometimes, or that I might end up in the hospital. And if that happens, here’s how we’re going to handle it.”
That was it.
What I didn’t expect… was what happened next.
Vulnerability Leads to Openness Which Leads to Solutions
Over the next few weeks,half my team reached out to me privately. And they started sharing their own invisible disabilities. Some physical. Some mental, some were neurodivergent challenges.
And suddenly… the performance issues made so much more sense.
Once those conversations started, the rest actually became pretty straightforward.
We identified the key barriers to good work and did what we could to lower them. Just clear communication and a bit of flexibility.
It was nothing dramatic, but the impact was.
Within a year, our productivity doubled. And for the first time in the department’s history, we started winning national and international awards.
And all of that started with one moment.
So when I talk about vulnerability, I’m not talking about oversharing or turning every conversation into something emotional.
It’s much simpler than that.
It’s about being honest, being clear, and focusing on solutions.
Because when people see that from YOU, they’ll trust you – and respond in kind.
To find out how your leadership team can use awkward moments to drive productivity contact Jason here.