In conventional leadership, competence is about maintaining composure, projecting strength, and exuding confidence. However, truly effective leaders d

Self-Disclosure: A Balancing Act in Leadership

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2024-12-02 17:30:10

In conventional leadership, competence is about maintaining composure, projecting strength, and exuding confidence. However, truly effective leaders do something more surprising: self-disclosure. They share their fallibility as well as strengths.

Self-disclosure is a misunderstood skill of effective leadership. How much is too much? And how can you ensure that opening up doesn’t undermine your authority? In this piece, I explore self-disclosure’s role in leadership, common mistakes to avoid, and using it appropriately.

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born,” quipped leadership guru Warren Bennis. An equally dangerous myth is that they must always appear infallible.

In my 25+ years in corporate America, I’ve seen countless “perfect” presentations and flawless strategies. Yet, the most impactful moment was when a senior leader candidly shared her professional failure with the team. Whether she knew it or not, she was leveraging the art of self-disclosure.

In the brutal confines of the "Hanoi Hilton," Admiral James Stockdale faced an unprecedented leadership challenge. Captured in 1965 during the Vietnam War, he was the senior naval officer among the prisoners of war. Rather than project an image of invulnerability, Stockdale made a counterintuitive choice: he openly shared his pain, fears, and struggles with fellow inmates.