Lose the armour: Embracing vulnerability in the workplace

“There is always pain in the room.” – Peter J. Frost

Life can be messy and imperfect. When dealing with a deep, often painful, personal issue, I tend to look around my office* for some sort of connection, empathy, compassion even. I tend to think to myself – am I the only one who is struggling? Why doesn’t anybody talk about their struggles? Then, this leads to a bigger question: where exactly does vulnerability fit in a modern workplace?

While a student, it was easy to take the appropriate time for self-care, easy to be self-compassionate, so to speak. Now fully-immersed in the corporate world of making money and office-working, my environment and social status has changed – but I’m still me with challenges and emotions.

The boundaries of professional and personal personas continue to cause me to question, suffer and feel torn in my ability to be a human being holistically and always – and express myself like one. Is it really possible to switch off raw emotions and psychological triggers just because you’ve walked into a different building, are wearing a suit and find yourself typing away at a desk?

Vulnerability is an asset, not a liability. It’s very clear that we subscribe to and propagate workplace cultures where we have to be ‘tough’ and stoical and not let our flaws, imperfections and challenges – be that work-related and personal – be exposed for fear of being judged professionally and emotionally incapable or toxic. I can’t help but sadly associate this with deep-rooted culture of work constructed by a once male-only and then heavily male-dominated arena. I think modern-day workers are now feeling and struggling from the effects of this outdated and ill-fitting culture.

Synonymous with vulnerability can be courage and authenticity. And in the words of Dr. Brené Brown, who I’ve started to look up to as an advocate of courage, “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” That said, reframing organisational culture to embrace vulnerability must therefore be a must for a corporate culture to thrive, mustn’t it?

Perhaps we can counter the fears of being taken over by robots but avoiding being robots ourselves.

If you're interested in Brene Brown's work around vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame, definitely give this a watch:

*This is not company-specific