Welcome to this week's episode of the Modern Mentor Podcast. I'm your host, Rachel Cook.

And today we're going to be talking about one of the most underrated superpowers you can harness at work. Vulnerability. Last year, I got a call

from Alex, a leader in a consumer products business. He was preparing to make a pretty big change

in his organization. New roles, reporting lines, products, a pretty big deal. We've done a lot of

change in the past, he told me.

Our analysis is always spot on. Our products and structures are right. But something always falls

apart. We lose productivity. We lose talent and we lose steam. He was looking for a different

outcome this time. Luckily, that is just my jam.

He showed me his change plan, chock full of cells, lines and boxes.

He had thought it all through, just as he had done every time before.

Great, I said.

Now tell me about what you don't know.

What anxieties, questions, and concerns do you have?

And what does your team have to say about all that? He stared blankly. Then he explained that his job was

to deliver clarity, confidence, and answers, not questions, uncertainty, and risk. This, my friends, was our big moment.

Alex didn't need more intelligence or analysis.

That was already working for him.

What he needed was some vulnerability.

And chances are in certain moments, so do you.

So let's dive into what vulnerability is, why it serves us, and how you can

bring it to life. In the fourth most watched TED Talk of all time, according to TED,

researcher Brene Brown describes vulnerability as uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.

...