Admitting Your Flaws Builds Trust

"One of the key components of the vulnerability decision is the willingness to openly acknowledge and then embrace your flaws. This can be very difficult because, again many leaders perceive this as a kind of weakness. They believe this will make them seem fallible, and thus they will lose their authority and respect. But if done in the right way, being open about one's imperfections has the opposite effect, and the best leaders know how to do this.

Admitting your flaws accomplishes several goals. First, it allows you to admit there is room for improvement. How can you change if you think you're already perfect? If you can get past yourself and see that you - as a human being and a leader - are more of a work-in-progress than you are a final product, then you'll set the stage to make the kind of changes necessary to take yourself - and your team - to the next level. 

  
Second, being transparent about your imperfections inspires a tremendous sense of trust in you from your team. The truth is that those who work with and for you already know that you're not, and if your colleagues and staff know that you are conscious of your gaps, they can fully trust that you'll take responsibility for them. It may sound counterintuitive, but it works (p. 139-140)."

From: Lesser, M. (2019).  Seven practices of a mindful leader.  Novato: CA: New World Library.