When Confidence Needs Vulnerability
As professionals, we often talk
about qualities as if they are switches, like either on or off. One is
confident or not, decisive or hesitant, strong or vulnerable. But I feel reality
doesn’t work in binaries. I feel qualities exist on a continuum. Confidence,
for instance, ranges from self-doubt on one end to arrogance on the other.
Somewhere in the middle lies grounded and sound-minded confidence, like the one
that listens, adapts, and still takes a stand when needed. Too little
confidence can hold you back. Too much can shut others down. Haven’t we all experienced
people who are holding themselves back in their professional career and are
loosing out on opportunities to shine because of the lack of confidence. And
similarly experienced people because of their over confidence, nearly
arrogance, they can turn off their colleagues or push them into a shell.
The same is true for
vulnerability. At the right moment, vulnerability builds trust, deepens
connection, and makes leadership human. At the wrong moment, or in excess, it
can create uncertainty or emotional overload. Vulnerability is not weakness, but
it needs awareness and timing. Being emotionally intelligent helps one manage
when to show it. So overall what I want to say is, it is a continuum on which
it exist.
Over the years, I’ve learnt that professional maturity is
not about displaying a quality consistently, but about dialling it up or down
based on the situation. There are moments when your team needs you to be firm,
clear, and decisive. There are moments when they need you to say, “I don’t have
all the answers, but we’ll figure this out together.” Both require courage and self-awareness.
What makes this hard is that the
shift has to happen quickly, sometimes within the same day, or even the same
conversation. And no one gives us a manual for this. We learn through
experience, reflection, and sometimes discomfort. The most effective
professionals I’ve seen are not the loudest or the most certain. They are the
ones who read the room, sense the moment, and respond with the right intensity
of the right quality. Because leadership is not only about having qualities
and more about using them wisely.
Being a LEARNAGER is about growing this awareness — learning not just what to show, but when and how much.
You can explore the book here:
LEARNAGER : From Learning to Leading in the Real World
Amazon KDP: https://amzn.in/d/badNOEx
Pothi Print Book:
https://store.pothi.com/book/dr-shazneen-gandevia-learnager/
Pothi e book: https://store.pothi.com/book/ebook-dr-shazneen-gandevia-learnager/
Comments