Keith Ferrazzi had a recent blog post that touched on this subject, and I had a lesson in it yesterday.
We are taught from a very early age to “be tough” and not show weakness. Keith disagrees with this attitude in his post, and my experience yesterday reinforced for me why he is right.
I had some bad news early this week, and was still reeling from it when I reconnected with someone about a referral. It had been months since we’d talked, and she asked me how I was doing. I could have “been tough” and said everything was fine. But she caught me at a vulnerable moment, and I found myself telling her what was going on. It turns out that a part of her business I didn’t know about can help me. Suddenly, I had options I didn’t have before! I left that conversation feeling so much better, and we are meeting next week to discuss it further.
Not only can she help me, but she may be able to help two of my clients as well. So my allowing myself to show some vulnerability gets her potential business. It gives me options. And it may give two of my clients options as well. That’s a lot better outcome than if I had said “Oh, I’m fine.”
So don’t be afraid to be up front with people. You might be surprised what comes of it.
Does anyone have a story of how showing some vulnerability worked out well?
