Talking about vulnerabilities

Sharing my work and life openly and often in a vulnerable form is not unusual here.  I talk openly about my introversion, imposter syndrome, support I need, my 'slow learning', reflector/evaluator mind set etc.  As well as talking about my personal experiences with workplace challenges and difficulties; DarkLight Phoenix - rising to the surface, What HE can learn from me and FE, Imposter - phantom in self or environment?, Dared to lead, Blending introversion with asynchronous working and Pragmatism, criticality and d**ks and Roots and beyond - to name a few.  There's a natural ease in the way I express, communicate (straight-talking) and perform my vulnerabilities, and I feel many find that comforting, especially those that are used to strong academic environments, which are less receptive to emotion.  Though we all have vulnerabilities, we're human after all!  Perhaps this is one of the reasons that keeps me/us real and human?  It's just a part of who I am and is unchangeable and unnegotiable.  An attribute complemented by my natural approachability and helpfulness.  Therefore I consider myself a representative example of expressing vulnerability and a good person to talk about it.  It's a topic that is close to my heart.  In fact it is the strapline to my blog 'Beware of my openness!' - more about what that means in 'Why openness is good'.  I ponder:

Is finding strength in my weaknesses, about resourcing myself through my vulnerabilities, such as loneliness and using that for stillness?  Even imposter to ground myself and ego-check?

Recently in my organisation we have been talking about vulnerabilities as a leadership/cultural approach.  But I don't think we have a common understanding of what it means to be, how to express it and the benefits it brings to other individuals, teams and the organisation. 

Below is a paper I wrote on the topic in an effort to get a real conversation flowing - something I touched on in the 'Lead wholeheartedly' section of my Dared to lead blog post.  Nobody had asked for this paper, it was something that I wanted to simply put out there and to start thinking about what we could do with it - is there a problem to be solved or just encourage the principles?  Anyway, this might be a useful nugget of information or be of comfort to some.

So after a conversation about this with a colleague to sense-check the paper, it allowed me to reflect on my intentions of it.  Therefore I have decided to shelve sharing the paper with my department for the time being.  I'm still learning about this topic, but I was hoping for it to lead into developing something pragmatic.  Overall the paper has done what I wanted at this stage; questioning existence and practicalities.  The following are some initial learning points I noted following the conversation I had:

• Whilst my colleague acknowledged we've all experienced this at some point.  I do think it triggered something, positive or negative.  However, I don't think many know how to deal/challenge this though, hence the discussion paper
• Interestingly it looks like it was sensitive issue/topic that I may have unconsciously wanted to get off my chest, in a gentle way
• Many aspects of vulnerabilities are already present within the organisation, so there may be little need/importance/urgency to push it at the moment - being kept honest on the facts
• The paper alone may not be enough for a discussion and the topic of vulnerabilities in isolation is not an ideal way forward.  It needs context; i.e. attached to organisational needs/developments
• It may appear an academic piece, but lacks a variety of perspectives and conclusion.  So therefore, it ended up being a 'passion piece'/short research activity asserting my interest
• Unclear what it should leave people thinking after reading it.  But hopefully it spurred on some thoughts

I sound a bit defeatist but am still positive in doing something with this.  So for now I have published it here, but like many of my pieces of work they do get used or repurposed somewhere along my journey.

EDIT:  Brené Brown shared this quote that I really resonate with, especially recognising others potential and being empathetic in developing them:

I define a leader as anyone who holds themselves responsible for finding the potential in people and processes, and has the courage to develop that potential.  It has nothing to do with titles or corner offices.  The toughest part of daring leadership is building a courageous culture where armor is neither required nor rewarded.

July 2021 - I felt strong about the content of this paper, so I mulled over what I could do with it.  I later submitted it to the #JoyFE Magazine as part of their 'The Joy of Leadership' section.  Later published in #JoyFE Magazine #14 on 30 July 2021.  I received the following feedback which was great to hear from the community.

Elizabeth Draper - @_Daniel_Scott on ‘Bringing Vulnerability into Practice’ in ‘leadership’ context /team meetings . ..a really helpful & informed piece with examples of ‘how to’ & impact 👍🏽⭐

Me - Thank you Elizabeth. 😊 It's not an easy thing to do/change, but it is transformational for workplace cultures.

Stacey Salt - Loved this piece from @_Daniel_Scott ...something I have been thinking about a lot - FE is not just about a single organisation, its all around us, stepping out, being brave & connecting is integral to creativity & innovation #JoyFE

Me - Thank you Stacey. 😊 It's tough being brave. But don't surrender the will to take small courageous and persevering steps...

Jo Fletcher-Saxon - Let’s rumble ... with vulnerability. ⁦@_Daniel_Scott⁩ talks us through vulnerable leadership and questions to ask of ourselves and organisations. 🙌👏

Me - I can assure you I did rumble with my own vulnerability writing it... 😉

#JoyFE💛 - Lovely #JoyOfLeadership piece from @_Daniel_Scott in this month's #JoyFE💛 magazine, channelling @BreneBrown and stepping into the arena. Loving the mix of thinking and practical suggestions and the questions it poses US. What do you think?

Stephen Taylor - "I love your published piece!  It's exactly what I need right now to help give some affirmation to my approach."

EDIT:  In April 2022, as part of a bi-monthly catch up with a learning designer in the central Flexible Learning Team, we spontaneously ended up talking about our professional vulnerabilities.  We have an established professional relationship which always helps, but I felt comfortable in the moment and we discussed and revealed more about our professional selves to each other.  I think it started when ,my peer mentioned they didn't have a wide vocabulary.  I said I don't have a wide vocabulary and we talked about how others might not, but hide it by repeating words others use.  I went on to say how I suffer terribly with imposter syndrome, as in I feel a fraud and am not as good as others - the comparing bit when I feel someone said something better than I could have articulated.  We also talked about us both not being naturally scholarly and are pragmatic and learn by doing kind of people.  Not feeling confident about public speaking (and not naturally keen on but do it sometimes) and alluding to our introvert ways - owning and working to our strengths, e.g. me as a writer and thinker and not pushing to be something else.

Becoming digitally capable in a time of forced change

On 28 April 2021, I delivered a 5-minute online presentation for the East Midlands Association of Learning Technology (ALT) group.  The call asked for short presentations from the community on what I or our team feel we have achieved this year, focusing on the small things rather than the strategic approaches we have taken.  Such as adapting in-person approaches for online/remote delivery or approaches taken to supporting members of the team.  I chose to briefly talk through the approach we took as a team and the role I played, to adapting online through redesigning an in-person leadership programme and developing our digital capabilities throughout the process.  The presentation synopsis:

Title:  Becoming digitally capable in a time of forced change
Description:  A walkthrough of the successes and lessons learned when transitioning online and supporting the continuum of digital skills development

It includes some commentary/reflections from the project team on the change they experienced to adapting online and using new digital technologies.  Thank you to them for their contributions. 😊 At the end I also mention some future ideas I have for the online programme.

Below is the presentation - although way too detailed for 5 minutes, I managed to succinctly cover it!