As a leader, being vulnerable and sharing more than just the hard facts can add richness and meaning to the stories you tell. A storytelling expert explores why not telling your full, unfiltered story is actually a disservice to readers — and how being real can help people connect with your experiences.

“I want to be taken seriously,” he said hesitantly, almost with an air of sadness in the background.

On the other end of the phone, I hesitated too. “Can you tell me more about that?” I hoped a gentle probe would uncover the deeper truth beneath his statement.

“I want this book to be taken seriously, and I’m worried that sharing my own story within it will stop that from happening,” he explained. “I mean, how can I write about succeeding in business by talking about a fear of failing?”

There they were: The words I hear so often from high-level CEOs when we’re trying to put their life’s work on paper. The admission happens sooner or later, especially as they begin talking about the road that led to their success. Inevitably, that road was filled with potholes, detours, fender benders, and sometimes, full-on collisions. And though they’re well past those experiences, they often still feel the scars — and those scars make them anxious and uncomfortable.

More times than not, the CEOs I work with don’t know why they’re afraid to open up. But having experienced it firsthand for half a decade now, I can take a pretty good guess. It’s what we call the “vulnerability hangover,” and it’s especially troublesome for clients who aren’t accustomed to discussing their feelings. Consequently, they fall into the trap of believing that vulnerability somehow corrupts credibility.

It doesn’t, of course. If anything, sharing your most honest self creates more credibility. Stories about vulnerability — your vulnerability — reveal your human side. Which also makes you more relatable to your audience.

Why Vulnerability Is Important in Leadership Stories

No matter who you’re sharing your story with (other leaders, entrepreneurs, or your employees), they’ll appreciate knowing that you faced obstacles and challenges just like they did. And still are.

Remember: Running a business is hard work. Everyone knows that. For instance, sharing the truth that trying to keep everything together during a global pandemic and time of social unrest was challenging for you creates a more expansive view of who you are as a leader. Rather than seeming like someone who knows it all, you come across as someone who has wrestled with the same trials all people in leadership positions face. The only difference is you’re peeling back all the layers and highlighting your journey with wholeness and honesty.

Not entirely convinced that stories of vulnerability in leadership will increase your credibility? Imagine an entrepreneur just starting out. She’s looking for advice and mentorship on the road that lies ahead. She picks up your book. Chapter after chapter, she sees your words on the page.

When she closes the book, what do you hope she takes away from your work? Do you want her to believe that your only truth was the finish line of success? Or do you want her to say, “He traveled the same road that I’m traveling. I get it now.”

Too often, we think we’re serving readers by only outlining happy endings. But everyone knows that the best stories include a bit of dragon-slaying along the way. If you talk about an effortless climb to the top, you won’t inspire anyone. But, on the other hand, if you share your vulnerable story — the story of tenacity, reliance, and hard work — you’re more likely to connect with audiences and win their loyalty.

To showcase the importance of vulnerability in leadership stories, consider EarthKind’s founder and CEO, Kari Warberg Block. Kari is focused on changing the face of the U.S. pest control industry with botanical alternatives to poisonous substances. Yet, she didn’t wake up one morning at the top of her game. Quite the contrary. She spent a lot of time maneuvering around roadblocks, challenges, and setbacks.

However, Kari doesn’t hide her obstacles. In her recent book, “Gathering Around the Table: A Story of Purpose-Driven Change Through Business,” she candidly shares some of her most disheartening moments as an entrepreneur. Kari’s transparency, combined with her unfettered encouragement and perseverance, has made her a mentor for readers hoping to make similar impacts.

Would Kari’s book have been a good read even if she hadn’t included stories about vulnerability? Absolutely. But without showing the cracks, the uncomfortable parts of her journey, she couldn’t have given readers a fully authentic understanding of how to succeed.

How to Be Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

Admittedly, sharing your whole self — vulnerabilities and all — is uncomfortable for many of us. But like any skill, you can master being comfortable with being uncomfortable. So start today by answering the following questions. Each one is designed to free you from the constant headache of the vulnerability hangover:

1. What scares you the most?

Be honest. What are you most afraid of? No matter your response, I can almost guarantee dozens of other people are wrestling with the same thoughts and feeling, just as unsure about how to express them. When you sit with your feelings of discomfort, you force yourself to stand at the edge of a figurative dock overlooking a lake of cold water. Will you be the first to jump in? Summoning up the courage to take the first leap might be challenging, but it gives everyone else the strength to follow.

2. What are your perceived successes and failures?

Over the course of working with countless leaders, I’ve realized that they have varying perspectives of what it means to fail. Genuinely successful leaders, however, reframe setbacks as feedback. In other words, they view hiccups, mishaps, and even embarrassing outcomes as opportunities to understand what doesn’t work. And learning from that lesson, they are taken one step closer to the outcome they hope to accomplish. List your perceived successes and failures, then evaluate them. Are the failures just gateways to offer more richness to your origin story as an entrepreneur? Often, you’ll find that the answer to that question is “yes.”

3. What’s the most significant thing you’ve learned?

Show me a successful leader, and I’ll show you someone who’s taken the long way home more than once. Why? Detours are a part of business life, especially if you’re a driven, ambitious dreamer. Offering audiences your valuable, vulnerable lessons shows that you aren’t someone to be placed on a pedestal. Instead, you’re always willing to learn and grow — even if you have to learn and grow the hard way.

If you ever share your story by writing a book or giving a speech, you have two options: You could share what you’ve done and call it a day, or you could share your vulnerable self, right down to your bones. I recommend the latter. It’ll remind the world that you didn’t just win to get to where you are. You won against the odds.

Individuals were forced to abruptly change their lifestyles, quite literally overnight, due to COVID-19. The uncertain future resulted in fear and trepidation, which extended far beyond the household level.

Corporations and organizations have struggled to survive amid pandemic conditions. Corporate leadership teams scrambled to pivot in meaningful ways to remain relevant in the marketplace, strategically source vital goods, and message unprecedented changes to their staff.

Change: The Only Constant

Organizational transformation generally occurs gradually over some time. Restructuring efforts often start with a pilot program, a detailed analysis from a reputable consultant, and a relatively significant amount of research. The sudden onset of a nearly unprecedented global pandemic, by contrast, blindsided everyone.

Corporate leaders faced with unique and ongoing challenges shifted their standard operating procedures. Fluidity and flexibility became the order of the day, and survival often hung in the balance. Strategic planning for long-term growth all but fell by the wayside as emergency procedures were implemented. Leaders were forced to make decisions on the fly.

Engaging Remote Employees

Perhaps the most critical task for business leaders during and beyond the pandemic has been employee engagement. A few short years ago, it would have been inconceivable to manage a predominately remote workforce effectively. However, due to the pandemic, leadership teams learned to implement makeshift accommodations until they could settle in and establish workable solutions for quarantined staff members. New software solutions replaced hardwired IT requirements with web-based applications. Coaching and development took place through virtual meetings and via email.

The general workforce has adapted to remote work, and today much of the recruiting process is carried out online. Leaders learned to recognize that the fears and drawbacks of managing a remote workforce were somewhat unfounded. Some companies were able to downsize or eliminate their physical office space altogether. Offsetting the cost of brick and mortar provided a budget for virtual team-building exercises and employee recognition gifts. Striking the best work-life balance is an ongoing challenge for some, but the flexibility associated with remote work has been a welcome benefit for workers.

Establishing and enforcing a corporate culture from a remote standpoint certainly presents unique challenges, but many business leaders have reported great success. Creative solutions have made virtual staff meetings productive and more enjoyable. The trauma of the pandemic brought employees closer together and more willing to take on new tasks. Managers adapted to new tools and expressed their gratitude to a remote workforce. Once employees found their most effective home workstation setup, individual productivity vastly increased across the board.

Profit and Loss Analysis

Even in the face of uncertainty and frequently changing mandates, leaders are still responsible for the business’s health. Chief Financial Officers reviewed balance sheets and anticipated budgets with a renewed zeal. Difficult decisions were made during uncomfortable, often tense, boardroom sessions. Virtually every industry implemented furloughs, layoffs, and temporary closures. Companies that took the hardest hits were forced to close their doors permanently. Even financially stable companies made drastic changes to secure reserves during the untold months of precarious cash flow.

Financial leaders were not alone in their new critical thinking and creative problem-solving endeavors. Operational Excellence managers radically changed their perspective in the face of the pandemic. Lean manufacturing techniques became both more and less critical during these challenging times. Efficient use of resources was vitally important for two reasons. First, the reduced revenue projects did not eliminate wasted inventory or sloppy production habits. Second, raw materials were becoming scarce. Increased demand and decreased availability resulted in several sharp price increases in a relatively short period.

Purchasing and Logistics

Raw material shortages and production facility closures caused lengthy delays. Customs and shipping regulation changes created significant backups, and finished goods often took months to reach port. Factories, retailers, and end-users were left waiting. Empty-handed and without the reassurance of a positive outlook, leaders employed their creative thinking skills. Some chose to pivot to a new product line completely, while others opted to improvise and fulfill partial orders while waiting for materials to become available. The various problem-solving approaches resulted in several new inventions and product lines inspired by the pandemic. Several companies repurposed their existing facilities and staff to produce, market, or sell personal protective equipment.

Leaders worldwide and across every industry were caught in the complex space of finding ways to keep the doors open when there was seemingly no reason to remain operational at historically low capacity levels. The difficult circumstances created a paradigm shift for the most successful leaders and companies and sparked a renewed passion and pure ingenuity among executive teams. Workers improvised with alternative resources and production techniques. Several new product lines, inventions, and process improvements were developed out of necessity.

Maintaining Customer Confidence

Marketing executives and managers focused on the customer experience also faced new challenges when the pandemic changed the traditional business model. Target audiences no longer had the means, the need, or the motivation to purchase according to their established patterns. Corporate leadership quickly realized the need to reach customers in a brand new way.

Marketers were tasked with upholding consumer confidence and brand recognition during the storm. This required a team to be acutely aware of the marketplace and have a keen sense of how consumers would likely behave or respond to various stimuli. A large majority of the pandemic campaigns focused on community, companionship, and general wellbeing. Consumers appreciated the transparency and level of support they felt coming from corporate entities.

In short, we have entered an entirely different corporate world, one that has required extreme agility on the part of business leaders, as they have been forced to adapt to realities that were largely inconceivable at the beginning of 2020. The pivot is ongoing, and in many cases, not the worst thing. Moreover, there is no turning back now. The business world is forever changed, and leaders must not only continue to adapt but be forward-thinking in anticipation of any disruption that might lie ahead.

While this pandemic has not always brought out the best in many, we have been astounded by the steadfast leadership shown by educational leaders across our state and country.

Whether traditional public, public charter, or private, school leaders have adapted quickly and reinvented instruction with an entrepreneurial and service-minded spirit. While we all have had to pivot professionally, some of us have had the luxury of being able to work from home with ready access to technology, without having to ensure the mental health, nourishment, safety, security and transportation of hundreds of children… in a global pandemic. 

We are business leaders who serve on the board of directors and community advisory council for BES, an organization committed to helping school leaders build, excel and sustain success and student achievement. Our work with them has given us a unique perspective on what it takes to be an effective school leader, and there are so many parallels to the qualities that we value in the world of business.

Commitment to care

A quality teaching mechanism is the driving force that keeps students learning and growing, but kids don’t care how much a teacher knows until kids know how much they care. Similarly, school leaders know that the key to retaining gifted teachers is to ensure they know they are valued and supported. Great leaders ask, “How do I take care of my people and give them the tools to be their best?” At the end of the day, our customers can get a product from another vendor, but what we can offer are employees who care because they know they are cared for.

Equity

The pandemic has impacted all of us differently, based on characteristics like geography, identity, and access to resources. Great school leaders are always thinking about equity, ensuring students, families, and teachers are supported in the way that they need. For example, while a leader may be encouraged by 90% staff retention numbers, they look for trends among the missing 10% and build solutions that are not just equal, but equitable. 

Adaptability

Charles is the board chairman of Vista College Preparatory, a public charter school founded by extraordinary school leaders supported by BES. The school was already doing critically important work with an under-resourced community before COVID happened. We saw what they were able to accomplish in one of the toughest learning environments in history. They turned on a dime, creating a fully virtual program in just eight days to keep the students learning, and creating a virtual summer school program for Vista students and youth throughout their community that may not otherwise have had access. They remained in daily contact with families to address their needs with incredible professionalism. While adaptability and changing quickly to meet demand is a normal part of running a business, that is not how our country’s schools are typically designed. Because Vista College Prep was built to be responsive to its community, their students have persevered in the wake of COVID.

Empowerment

Whether it’s experienced teachers or ones who are new to the field, but extraordinarily passionate, great school leaders hire gifted people and delegate responsibility to them. Not only does this build leadership capacity, but it also sustains that capacity by deepening an organization’s leadership bench. It also keeps the school leader’s head “out of the weeds” and looking ahead to embrace strategy and set direction. Good leaders know when to take charge and when to cheer from the sidelines.

Accountability

When you hire the right people, care for them, and give them what they need to be successful, how do you handle it well if they fall short? Business leaders can really learn from the world of education here. Gifted school leaders are clear about their expectations, set high bars for achievement and hold their team accountable. Teachers know from data gathering and assessment results how their students are performing and where they need support. If we as business leaders can be specific about what constitutes quality work and evaluate our employees before big issues arise, we can give them the chance to change course before a big mistake happens. 

We built businesses because we loved the work and earned the respect of leaders who recognized and nurtured our potential. Volunteering to serve education organizations like BES and schools like Vista College Prep has given us the opportunity to see what top notch leadership looks like in the education world, and we are amazed. 

To school leaders everywhere: we see you, we respect you, we thank you. May you be blessed with the strength you need to make this unprecedented school year meaningful and fulfilling.

Being asked to join a corporate board used to be a soft option a few decades ago for many executives. Occasional meetings, convivial atmosphere punctuated by dinners, perhaps followed by cigars and a rather good brandy. Those days are long gone.

Now, corporate boards face pressure and scrutiny everywhere they turn. Stakeholders, investors, employees and customers, and even suppliers all want to know what boards are doing for the present and future that affects them. 

According to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer Spring Update, 62% of people trust businesses, with employees seen as the most important stakeholder towards long-term success. The public now expects CEOs to prioritize societal issues, with emphasis on more significant efforts in four key areas:

● Gender and ethnic pay equality (51%)

● Ensure their company is trusted (42%)

● Reduce their carbon footprint (40%)

● Ensure their company is paying their fair share of corporate taxes (40%)

The activists are at the gate, too, asking uncomfortable questions in public. It’s not just Greta Thunberg, who in the aftermath of the COP26 summit in Glasgow warned: “We don’t just need goals for just 2030 or 2050. We, above all, need them for 2020 and every following month and year to come.”And let’s not forget social media or the perils of cancel culture. Many individuals and companies worldwide have been caught in those fires, and few have come out unscathed. The squeeze is so tight and affects so many people directly; it reminds me of the lyrics of one of my favorite songs by Queen & David Bowie. Although it’s 40 years old – very similar to myself, of course – the intro still holds true today.“Pressure pushing down on me; Pressing down on you, no man ask for; Under pressure that burns a building down; Splits a family in two;Puts people on streets” The pressure is on, but there is a way out. Here are my top three solutions.

1. Build trust by thinking like an activist. Boards need to listen beyond their boardrooms. It’s a gift if people are openly willing to say, “I don’t agree with what you do.” If you as a board can actively listen to those eager to use their time to give you advice, although in a different format than consultants would, you have been given a gift of invaluable insight.

Agree to disagree. Explain why you do ABC. But don’t just put your heads in the sand and ignore these people. As Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, US Business Editor of the Financial Times, wrote in June 2021: “Today’s business leaders are being confronted by a new generation of agitators whose aims they consider unrealistic, whose methods they consider unreasonable but whose message will probably be worth heeding in the long run. … from street styles to fashion on Wall Street, new ideas tend to start on the fringes.”Put yourself in their shoes. Think how, if you were an activist, how would you “kill” your company? Get your antennae working; examine the soft spots; where are your competitors outperforming you; what cyber security weaknesses do you have. Make sure you have a transition plan. And know your carbon footprint. 

2. Implement better scenario planning – now. Your board needs to ask what your company will look like in a world where the temperature has risen 1.5℃? 2.4℃. Or even worse, 2.7℃ in 2100? For sure, your supply chain will be disrupted severely, but it won’t stop there, especially for your employees. Taking recent events in British Columbia, Canada, or London, UK as an example, basements will be flooded; homes ruined; fuel rationing implemented; food supplies will run out; loved ones lost. Boards must urgently imagine what the world could look like next year and the years after that. They must plan for it, mitigate their risks and help their employees along the way. If you live somewhere that will be wetter, and your company sells clothes, stock up on jackets and rubber boots six months earlier than usual. There will be stores with none, trust me. If your board does not ask many “what if?” questions now, people might be asking “where did that company go?” in the future.

3. Get trustworthy data. First, your board must figure out who your key stakeholders are and what material issues they care about so that you can give them better information. There is reporting rigor coming for ESG for all boards, so you need to get ready. Asset-Managers, proxy advisors, The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and the new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will all be taking a keen interest in your board and your company. When you go to the bank, they want to have your data. Investors will want to have your data. Customers will want to have your data. And they want to be able to say we can trust this data. 

Your board must figure out the how and why of measurement. Then, instill a rigorous system internally to find the data and report that data alongside your financial data. You can get internal or external auditors to examine that information when you have that in place. And by doing that, the market will repay you with trust.

Are you worried that hybrid, especially full-time remote employees, will undermine junior employee on-the-job learning, integration into company culture, and intra and inter-team collaboration? This issue recurrently came up with organizations that I guided in developing strategies for returning to the office and establishing permanent future work arrangements.

On the one hand, these leaders acknowledged that the future of work is mainly hybrid, with some staff working remotely full-time. After all, surveys illustrate that 60-70% of employees permanently want a hybrid post-pandemic schedule while 25-35% want a fully remote schedule. And 40-55% would be willing to quit if not given their preferred amount of work from home. 

On the other hand, these leaders showed concerns about on-the-job learning, cultural integration, and intra and inter-team collaboration. To address these concerns, I helped them adopt the best practices for leading hybrid and remote teams in the future of work, in this case, virtual coworking.

Why Do Leaders Fail to Adapt to the Future of Work?

Leaders often fail to adopt best practices because of cognitive biases’ dangerous judgment errors. These mental blindspots result in poor strategic and financial decisions when evaluating options. Moreover, they render leaders unable to resist following their gut and their personal preferences instead of relying on best practices. 

One of these judgment errors is called functional fixedness. When we have a particular perception of appropriate practices and processes, we tend to disregard other more suitable alternatives.

That’s why leaders failed to address strategically the problems arising with the abrupt transition to telework. Instead, they adapted their existing ways of interacting in “office culture” to remote work.

Another cognitive bias, which is related to functional fixedness, is called the not-invented-here syndrome. It’s a leader’s antipathy towards adopting practices not invented within their organization, no matter how useful.

Defeating these cognitive biases requires the use of research-based best practices. It means a mainly hybrid model of 1-2 days in-office with most employees working remotely as needed and a minority working full-time remotely – those who are well-disciplined, organized, and proactive. This setup provides optimization of innovation and collaboration, retention of top talent, and flexible company culture.

Remote Training Through virtual coworking

To facilitate remote training for on-the-job learning through virtual settings and promote effective team collaboration, employ virtual coworking. That involves all members of a team spending an hour or two per day coworking digitally with their teammates when they are not in the office.

That doesn’t mean working together on a collaborative task: each person works on their tasks but can ask questions if they have them. After all, much on-the-job training comes from coworkers answering questions and showing less experienced staff what to do on individual tasks.

First, all should get on a videoconference call. Then, all share what they plan to work on during this period. Next, all turn microphones off but leave speakers on with video optional, and then work on their tasks. That way, no sounds will be coming through unless a team member deliberately turns on their microphone to ask a question or make a comment.

This experience replicates the benefit of a shared cubicle space, where you work alongside your team members but on your own work. As less experienced team members have questions, they can ask them and get them quickly answered. Most of the time, the answer will be sufficient. Sometimes, a more experienced team member will do screen-sharing to demonstrate how to do a task. Another option is to use a virtual whiteboard to illustrate the task graphically.

Junior team members don’t get all the benefits. For example, more experienced team members might need an answer to a question from another team member’s area of expertise. Occasionally, issues that would benefit from a brief discussion and clarification might come up. Often, team members save up their more complex or confusing tasks during a coworking session for just such assistance.

Furthermore, sometimes team members will just share about themselves and chat about how things are going in work and life. That’s the benefit of shared cubicle space, and virtual coworking replicates that experience.

However, note that this call is not meant to be a work meeting, and you should not intend to have any lengthy conversations during it. Instead, do a separate call with a teammate if you need a longer chat. In addition, if you have specific teammates with whom you’re collaborating more intensely, you should do a coworking session with them daily in addition to broader coworking with the team as a whole.

Such virtual coworking does not cause the drain of a typical Zoom meeting. On the contrary, team members typically find it energizing and bonding. It helps junior team members get on-the-job learning and integrates them into the team while assisting all team members in addressing questions while feeling more connected to fellow team members.

Conclusion

Leaders worry about new employees hired during the pandemic failing to integrate into the company culture, not getting on-the-job learning, and lacking effective intra and inter-team collaboration. To address these issues, remote training through virtual coworking offers excellent best practices for leading hybrid and remote teams in the future of work.

Has the following ever happened to you? One of your co-workers got the promotion you wanted, even though their professional credentials and achievements at work were not as good as yours. Unfair? Perhaps. But maybe it was simply because your colleague was better at “selling” their achievements than you.

As an entrepreneur, I have noticed time and again that there are two types of people: There are employees who quietly and modestly go about their work, but whose performance (unfortunately!!) doesn’t gain the recognition it deserves because their boss doesn’t even notice what they really do. Then there are others who have learned a lesson from chickens! Yes, you read that correctly. Chickens cluck every time they lay an egg. And that is exactly what you should learn to do.

And what is true for employees is even more so for the self-employed and for entrepreneurs – both small and large. At a time when we are flooded with information through the media and online, it is less important than ever before to simply be good at something. Anyone who believes that “quality will prevail on its own,” “the cream will always rise to the top,” or “you shouldn’t blow your own trumpet” will have to accept it as they are passed over for promotion by colleagues who know how to build “the brand me.”

“You can have the greatest movie in the world, but if you don’t get it out there, if people don’t know about it, you have nothing. It’s the same with poetry, with painting, with writing, with inventions!” These are the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, at the beginning of his career, took a stroll through downtown Munich wearing nothing more than a skimpy pair of posing briefs. He had asked a friend to call some journalists: “You remember Schwarzenegger who won the stone-lifting contest? Well, now he’s Mr. Universe, and he’s at Stachus Square in his underwear.” The next day he was in the newspapers. Schwarzenegger is one of the most famous people in the world. He owes his unusual career – as a bodybuilder, Hollywood star, politician and entrepreneur – to his sales talent. There have been many bodybuilders since with bigger muscles than Schwarzenegger, but none of them were so good at selling. That’s why you don’t know their names, but you know his. 

Some people believe it is enough to be “good” at something because quality will eventually prevail on its own. That is naive. If that were the case, companies such as Mercedes or Apple could have stopped their advertising and PR campaigns decades ago. 

Even people we don’t normally associate with self-marketing owe much of their fame to their ability to build their personal brand, even those who claim that fame is a nuisance to them. Even Albert Einstein, the most popular scientist in history, asked himself in one of his famous verses whether it was he or his admirers who were really “crazy”:

 “Wherever I go and wherever I stay, 

There’s always a picture of me on display, 

On top of the desk, or out in the hall, 

Tied around a neck, or hung on a wall.

Women and men, they play a strange game, 

Asking, beseeching: ‘Please sign your name.’ 

From the erudite fellow they brook not a quibble 

But firmly insist on a piece of his scribble.

Sometimes, surrounded by all this good cheer, 

I’m puzzled by some of the things that I hear, 

And wonder, for a moment, my mind not hazy, 

If I and not they could really be crazy?”

But no one becomes truly famous by chance or against their will, at least not over years and decades. In my book How People Become Famous, I take the examples of twelve famous figures to show that, although they all complained from time to time about the annoying side effects of fame, they also all consciously strove for it and spent a lot of time and energy on self-promotion.

Take Einstein again: The photo of him sticking his tongue out at the world became famous. It was taken on his 72nd birthday and shows his successful transformation from man to metaphor. Einstein himself chose a detail from the photo, had the image cropped, printed and sent to friends and colleagues. The image became his ultimate trademark and a pop motif for posters, buttons and T-shirts. 

Einstein cultivated the image of the scientist who attached little importance to clothing, hated collars and ties, did not comb his long hair, wore no socks and left his shirts open. Asked about his profession, he once quipped, “Fashion model.” Rumor has it that as soon as photographers approached, Einstein mussed up his hair with both hands to restore his quintessential image as an eccentric professor. 

Einstein certainly didn’t become famous for the theory of relativity, because 99.99 percent of the people who cheered him whenever he appeared in public didn’t understand it. Then there’s Stephen Hawking, who became the most famous scientist of recent decades, despite the fact that he never won the Nobel Prize. He once confessed: “To my colleagues, I’m just another physicist, but to the wider public I became possibly the best-known scientist in the world.” He understood the art of self-promotion like no other scientist since Einstein. Hawking – unlike most other scientists – was not prepared to settle for a life writing technical essays that would only ever be interesting and comprehensible to his scientific peers or giving lectures at specialist conferences. 

When negotiating with publishers, he demanded that his next book should be available in airport bookstores all across America: “If I was going to spend the time and effort to write a book, I wanted it to get to as many people as possible.” That in itself is an unusual attitude for a theoretical physicist. In fact, his book A Brief History of Time spent 147 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and a new record 237 weeks on the London Times bestseller list. It has been translated into forty languages and sold ten million copies. How many people ever fully understood the book is another question. 

Hawking, with great self-awareness, once explained: “Undoubtedly, the human interest story of how I have managed to be a theoretical physicist despite my disability has helped.” A marketing genius, he built himself into a brand, turning the disadvantage of his disability into a distinctive brand feature. He even patented the computerised voice he used to communicate.

You don’t have to aim to become as famous as Einstein, Hawking or Schwarzenegger. But you can certainly learn a lot from them. Above all, this: It’s not enough to be good. You also have to make sure that others take notice. Do something good – and talk about it!

Creativity has the power to move business. It’s the banner under which good design, storytelling, and compelling brand actions come to life. With the barrier to entry becoming easier in many sectors and so many products looking the same, creativity will decide who wins.

Think about the rumors of Apple building a car; years ago, that idea would have seemed insane for a computer company. Yet, this type of creative thinking keeps a brand top of mind and valuable as an innovator. If you’re a smart CEO, creativity is something you should embrace massively, as it’s something you can apply to so many aspects of your company to unlock potential and new value.

Start by creating a company culture where creativity can thrive. Creating a safe space where employees can be themselves is a good starting point but harder than you think. 

It takes an element of bravery to allow misfits and divergent voices in your company to be heard and a flexible corporate culture to accommodate them. Getting staff to let their guard down can be challenging — especially within a hierarchy — and a human approach is key to solving this problem.

Create a process that allows for collaboration and creativity. Reimagine your metrics for success to include failure — there are lessons there too. Build resilience for when you hear “no” to an idea, with an ability to move on to more ideas without losing enthusiasm. Remember, nobody likes a genuinely creative idea at first because it’s too original, and there’s no framework for its success. CEOs need to keep an open mind and give space to things they may not understand yet fully.

As a child, my family would move every four years around the world. I lived in Ghana, Egypt, the United Kingdom, and South Africa — each time needing to start from scratch and build a new life. It created a lot of curiosity in me and an appreciation of different people and cultures, and it’s something I’ve brought into my professional life. Advertising is so close to culture that seeking out diverse experiences can help your marketing strategy too. The Internet today allows access to so many diverse points of view that there’s no excuse anymore for not stimulating your brain with creative thinking, even if you’ve never left your city or country before. You don’t need to hop on a plane anymore to find a meaningful experience or connection either. Curiosity is the key.

The skill of a good designer is knowing what to highlight and what to ignore. A good storyteller does the same. Figuring out the core of your creative message is something you should spend time on. Some of the questions you should ask are: What is the purpose of my business beyond the product that I make? What value do I want to create in the world, and how can I move toward that value? Ideally, your product should be advancing you toward this value because it will strengthen your relationship with customers. At the same time, stay flexible because nobody knows when the next pandemic, economic crisis, or upheaval will happen again. By practicing creative thinking in your organization, you train yourself to roll with the punches and quickly come up with new solutions when the going gets tough.   WorkWithKin.com

What does it mean to be a purposeful leader? Well, it depends on who you ask.

There’s been a longstanding exchange happening in the business world for decades about what successful leadership looks like. Some would say the greatest leaders are measured by their prosperity. Some would say it should be how their employees revere them. And some might say it’s reflected in their commitment to sustainability efforts. But I would say, why can’t it be all three?

I’m not the first to want to marry these three components together. Entrepreneur and author John Elkington coined the term ‘triple bottom line’ in the early 90s to epitomize this concept. In short, purposeful leaders that will truly make a difference in their industries, communities, and society don’t just pick one end goal to focus on; they strive to create organizations that serve all three.

Despite being around for almost 30 years, the pool of leaders who’ve tasked themselves with carrying out the triple bottom line is relatively small, and, if I had to guess, there could be a few reasons why. Sustainability is often viewed as an altruistic accessory of leadership rather than a responsibility of leaders. In the “customer-first vs. employee-first” debate, the customer usually wins. And when it comes to money and social responsibility, many believe you can’t have the best of both worlds. 

As someone who has implemented the triple bottom line approach into my own companies, past and present, I think a lot of CEOs are just struggling to figure out how to do this juggling act themselves. So, what can you do? First, you have to understand the problems of only focusing on one component, and then you can see how all three build off one another to create better organizations. 

People

Yes, people must always be a priority in business, but putting blinders on to everything else can distract leaders from environmental consciousness and profitability, which will be the demise of any company, big or small.

In the ‘people’ component of a triple bottom line, the goal is to positively impact everyone — those who are directly linked to your business (your employees and customers) and those who aren’t (your local and global communities). But you don’t have superpowers. All of this can’t fall on your shoulders. So, to have the most significant influence, you must prioritize the people closest to you (your employees), and it will trickle outwards from there.

This is where some leaders struggle. They feel like they have to put their customers and shareholders first, but let me explain why putting employees first is a win-win. Organizations that are created to serve, nurture, and protect employees develop workers that are highly trained, highly knowledgeable, more empowered, and a lot happier than companies who don’t. This creates a snowball effect. Happier, experienced team members take better care of customers. Happier customers keep coming back to your business. This means increased profitability, which will lead to happier shareholders. 

Companies that put their people first are 21 percent more profitable in the long run, making everyone happier.

Planet

If you’re a leader who takes corporate social responsibility seriously, that’s great. But if you’re only focused on environmental impact, your business likely won’t be sustainable, as it won’t be profitable, so then it can’t serve people or make a difference in the world in the long term. 

Today, businesses get a lot of heat from society to be more sustainable, and for good reason. Larger corporations have been (and still are) able to get away with causing irreversible damage to the planet. In 1969, a river in Cleveland caught fire because it was so polluted and sparked a revolution. The same thing just recently happened in the Gulf of Mexico. So it’s no wonder people are holding businesses accountable for their environmental impact. 

You can still be profitable and sustainable. In fact, you need to be profitable to be sustainable. Southwest Airlines is a remarkable example of this. In an industry that isn’t renowned for making money, they’re one of the most profitable airlines. Their commitment to saving the planet plays a significant part in this, but so does their dedication to their employees, which is why Southwest is consistently voted one of the world’s most admired companies.

Patagonia is another example of how companies can use their profits for good. In 2018, they donated the $10 million they saved from Trump’s tax cut to efforts that protect our communities and public lands and organizations that supply life-saving resources to at-risk areas. They could have easily kept that money and used it for internal initiatives, but they chose to invest in the planet instead. And every time they invest in their social mission, they see more growth.

Profits

Entrepreneurs who are only motivated by profits burden people and cause damage to the environment because they are willing to do anything in the name of money. And we already know that profit-hungry companies are never held in high esteem.

This isn’t to say that profits aren’t important, of course. We need them to grow, to be able to invest in our employees, and to be able to give back. But profits should be an outcome of our missions rather than the sole driver of our initiatives. I saved this component for last because it will be the shortest section. The previous points illustrate how purposeful leaders can still think about money while increasing their profitability. When we invest in our employees and live out our social missions, that is how we can grow our customer base and continue to grow our companies.

Leaders who only focus on one area are driven by short-term pursuits and solutions. Committing to people, the planet, and profits is how we can continue building truly sustainable and influential organizations. 

If you’re a male leader, are you aware of your male privilege and what it affords you? Most men aren’t.

Many men inside companies have little sense of the role their language and behavior play in what women experience. That is because silence (or tolerance) has permitted these behaviors and language to continue. Most guys just keep being guys without giving much thought to the experiences of those around them because those are not their lived experiences. Too often, they get a pass and give a pass. It’s all unspoken — and I’m not saying that most men have done anything wrong. But to do nothing when the misbehavior of other men impacts the people around you isn’t okay either.

Instead, learn to be an ally and inclusionary leader. Understand that there’s much more going on than just sexual behavior or violating a non-fraternization policy. It’s what you do or don’t do when someone else — a guy — makes a sexist or derogatory comment, either in the company of a woman or not. It’s all about choices.

You can choose to use your position as a leader to invite a woman’s voice into the conversation at a meeting when she is the only woman in attendance. Choose not to ask a woman to set up the meeting space with coffee, and instead, do it yourself. Choose to recognize the issue with having no women candidates in the talent pipeline or during an executive search. These are all choices — and making them certainly requires commitment and a leap of faith. But, they also require one fundamental decision: that you’re going to acknowledge and face your male privilege.

Here are seven essential steps you can take to start:

1. Face your defensiveness. Being a male leader, manager, or individual contributor in today’s current social and political narrative means having the spotlight on what you say and do. But this attention from others on your behavior is rarely a motivator to change/adjust one’s behavior. I don’t know about you, but this type of attention puts me on the defensive, and I’m less apt to change. Maybe you feel powerless to change; perhaps it seems easier to look the other way or blame someone else. One thing is for sure: If you take this approach, you are inviting a personal wake-up call. The other option is to consider this a growth opportunity.

2. Get out the microscope. A big part of being an ally and inclusionary leader is proactively shining a light on your behavior, language, and power. How do they impact others? This isn’t something you can do alone. Everyone (including you and I) has gaps in their ability to see themselves. Enlist others to “help you see” what you cannot — that’s an invaluable and necessary action.

3. Replace your self-judgment with curiosity. Declare for yourself an intention to learn more about what drives your language and behavior— without self-judgment. This is all about mindset, and it will serve you throughout your journey. The positive effect of this intention is that you will begin to understand why you do what you do, as well as what is holding you back. When you get curious about what drives your behavior and language, especially when they produce less-than-desirable results, you can rewrite your own narrative—and act and speak as an ally and inclusionary leader.

4. Seek a female mentor/partner. Get curious about her experiences and how men’s behaviors impact her. There are numerous positive effects to doing this. Inviting a woman colleague or partner (or both) to give you feedback demonstrates a willingness to learn, be better, and be an ally — in her eyes. Second, your intention to be curious about her experiences as a woman will help you develop your empathy muscles. This is not about putting the burden of your learning on women mentors. Instead, it’s about creating both personal and business trust that contributes to a beneficial relationship.

5. Seek and secure a male support accountability partner. Men predominantly fill leadership positions, and there are numerous times when women are not present — yet behaviors that are unbecoming of an ally and inclusive leader still may be. By partnering with a man as a supportive accountability partner, you can develop your ability to give and receive feedback in support of your growth and his. Having an accountability buddy ensures your continued growth. Your organization benefits as more men become woke.

6. Understand power differentials. Learn about and understand the concept of power differentials and how others may experience your power and position. Your leadership position at your company yields power over others — even when it’s not what you intended. You must understand how this power can influence others, despite good intentions.

Power differentials (which are felt most keenly by the person with the least amount of organizational control) are composed of two ingredients: the actual control over others granted by your position/title and an individual’s own past experiences with authority. It is important to learn that women and marginalized people feel it, even when they’re not aware they’re feeling it. They live with it every day.

7. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Whenever we’re in a relationship with someone who has power over us, we do what we need to do to keep ourselves safe. Imagine the shoe being on the other foot to the extent you can. The woman you report to, your female superior, makes a suggestive advance after hours while on a business trip. She possesses the ability to promote or demote you. Can you feel the lose-lose tension if you say no?

Male privilege traces back to long-held social norms that we all need to leave behind — especially leaders. When you take the time to acknowledge your privilege and truly understand power dynamics, you can use your leadership — and your power — for good. And when women and marginalized people can feel safer and more valued, that contributes to their ability to bring their whole selves to work and focus on their roles. All organizations and leaders benefit when employees feel free enough and safe enough to be truly effective.

I love the show, Ted Lasso. I love it because it’s funny, clever, and heartful. I love it because, against the backdrop of a protracted pandemic and the onslaught of daily, painful world events to digest, the show delivers an optimism many need at this moment. Professionally, I also love it because it depicts dynamics that are particularly resonant to my work. 

A central idea animates my work as an executive coach and psychotherapist: underneath our professional challenges are often psychological or emotional dilemmas we must face. To evolve professionally, we must transform personally. We must learn to grow up at work. 

Ted Lasso, the character, a newly minted soccer coach in the UK, shows us what it means to grow up at work in a few primary ways. (Spoiler alert for those who are new to the show). 

1. Positivity is powerful (but it also has its limits). 

For the first season of Ted Lasso, we meet a protagonist possessing a sincerity that borders on being a hokey caricature of the past. Ted speaks in a folksy, mildly southern drawl (albeit with hip Gen X pop culture references). And despite hordes of crowds calling him awful names in public, Ted Lasso meets the negativity and hostility of others with a smile. He is nearly otherworldly with his good-natured smile and warmth. 

Throughout the season, we see Ted’s sincere positivity win over his boss (who secretly hoped that he would fail for her own reasons of personal revenge). We also watch him turn a struggling group of soccer players into more of a cohesive, inspired, successful team by staying positive in the face of team losses. 

Aside from Ted Lasso, I’ve rarely seen such a sweet example of the power of positivity a leader can have on others. Research tells us that our emotions are contagious, and in this way, Ted infuses those around him with a sense of purpose and hopefulness that becomes infectious. 

However, when the team is still struggling to win, and Ted starts to face his difficulties, we begin to see the limits of approaching everything positively. When positivity becomes a cover for more complex emotions, we can sense it. We start to realize that Ted has used positivity as a coping mechanism, but it’s become a form of deflection and avoidance. The positivity that used to be inspiring starts feeling fake and stale. We sense something else underneath, something that quickly cuts at a perception of authenticity — one of the attributes associated with inspiring leadership.  

2. To become emotionally mature and whole, we must face our shadow. 

Into season one, we learn that Ted’s wife wants a divorce. Part of the reason she cites is his chronic positivity. Ted appears internally distraught about this but holds his pain close. As time goes on, Ted begins to have what turns out to be panic attacks. He doesn’t tell anyone what he has experienced and makes up the excuse of food poisoning after he panics in the middle of a game. Meanwhile, in season two, we watch Ted deliberately avoid a meaningful conversation with the new psychotherapist for the team, a professional that has been increasingly helping his players navigate their emotional challenges. 

Only when Ted breaks down, his cheerful veneer no longer on display, do we see the pain, fear, and anguish he’s experiencing. In psychotherapy, this can be referred to as our “shadow” — the usually painful part of our experience that we avoid feeling. But what we resist persists, and only when Ted Lasso allows himself to start feeling his pain, start experiencing his shadow do we see the beginnings of him as a more emotionally mature and whole human being. 

3. Sharing our emotional honesty is liberating and connects us to others. 

In a recent episode of Ted Lasso, the show ends with Ted sharing his truth with others. Right before a game, in a coaches huddle, he tells his colleagues that his recent bout of “food poisoning” was actually a panic attack, and he shares that he’s been having them lately. He wants them to know this, and they look visibly moved by his emotional honesty. 

Once Ted shares his truth, his friends are inclined to do the same. One shares that he recently made an administrative mistake that could be costly to the team. Another shares that he was intoxicated at a previous match. They share truths that they would have otherwise been too shy or self-conscious to share, but it’s clear they all feel liberated by being honest. 

When we share our emotional truth with others, when we show up with vulnerability and honesty, we invite the same from those around us. Others realize they don’t have to keep up the unconscious superficial game many of us play to show that we’re in control. By giving ourselves permission to be real, others are inspired to do the same. As a result, they feel closer to us, and we connect deeper.  

Ted Lasso isn’t just a fun show to watch and a needed salve for our days; it’s also an instruction manual on becoming a more emotionally mature and whole adult. By bringing our maturity to work, we grow up as adults and end up helping the workplace have more maturity and integrity as we inspire others to do their “inner work,” too.