Why vulnerability is the leadership skill we still undervalue

Vulnerability is not the opposite of strength; it is the foundation on which authentic leadership is built, writes Jason Dunn.

What if one of the greatest indicators of leadership strength is a quality many executives still try to hide? For decades, leadership has rewarded confidence, decisiveness, and certainty. Yet the leaders who build the highest-performing teams are not those who project invincibility, but those who create environments where people feel safe to contribute and grow.

Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson’s pioneering research into psychological safety has shown that teams perform at their best when people feel confident speaking openly, asking questions, challenging ideas, and admitting mistakes without fear of embarrassment or punishment. Her work established psychological safety as a predictor of innovation, learning, and organisational performance. According to Google’s landmark Re:Work study, psychological safety, not intelligence, seniority or team composition, was the single most important factor separating exceptional teams from average ones.

The latest Edelman Trust Barometer shows employees increasingly expect leaders to demonstrate transparency, empathy, and authenticity. Trust is now a competitive advantage. Taken together, the evidence challenges one of leadership’s oldest assumptions. The best leaders are not those who appear strongest. They are those who create the conditions for others to perform at their best.

Despite this growing body of evidence, vulnerability remains one of leadership’s most misunderstood qualities. Too often, it is mistaken for weakness when it reflects confidence, humility, and emotional maturity. For much of my executive career, I thought leadership meant projecting certainty. I believed my role was to remain composed, provide answers, and shield my team from uncertainty. Like many leaders, I worried that admitting I did not know something or acknowledging my own shortcomings might undermine my credibility. Experience proved the opposite. The more authentic I became, the more trust I earned. The more willing I was to acknowledge mistakes, seek advice, and invite different perspectives, the stronger my relationships became. Vulnerability strengthened my leadership.

Trust begins with authenticity

Leadership has always been built on trust, and trust is earned through authenticity rather than perfection. One experience early in my executive career changed how I led. I invited a trusted senior colleague to observe me facilitating a regional leadership conference and asked him to give me feedback afterwards. His assessment surprised me. He believed I demonstrated many effective leadership qualities, but he also told me I was leading at my pace rather than the pace my team needed. I was, in his words, “driving the bus too fast” and leaving people behind. It would have been easy to dismiss his comments or defend my approach. Instead, I listened, and that conversation became one of the defining leadership moments of my career. It taught me that leadership is not measured by how quickly the leader moves, but by how many people successfully make the journey.

Accepting that feedback required vulnerability. More importantly, it accelerated my growth. From that point forward, I deliberately surrounded myself with people who would challenge my thinking, question my assumptions, and tell me what I needed to hear rather than what I wanted to hear. Every significant improvement began with a willingness to become better. Ironically, the vulnerability I once feared would weaken my credibility became one of the primary reasons people chose to trust me.

Vulnerability creates high-performing teams

While vulnerability strengthens individual leaders, its greatest impact extends across an organisation’s culture. When leaders admit mistakes, acknowledge uncertainty, and genuinely invite input, they create psychological safety. People become more willing to contribute ideas, identify risks early and learn from failure rather than hide it. They focus on solving problems instead of protecting themselves. Psychological safety is not created through values statements, posters, or leadership slogans. It is created through leadership behaviour. Every time a leader says, “I don’t know,” “I made a mistake,” or “What do you think?”, they reinforce a culture where learning matters more than ego, curiosity matters more than certainty, and collaboration matters more than hierarchy. Research from Harvard Business Review reinforces this point, identifying psychological safety as essential for learning, innovation, and sustained organisational performance. When people trust they can speak honestly without fear of embarrassment or punishment, organisations become more adaptable, collaborative, and resilient. The lesson is simple: culture is shaped less by what leaders do than by what they say.

Courage and vulnerability are inseparable.

People have often asked where my courage comes from. Whether learning to swim as an adult despite a lifelong fear of drowning, competing in Ironman triathlons or standing on the start line of ultramarathons, many assume courage meant I wasn’t afraid. The opposite was true. Almost every worthwhile decision involved uncertainty. Learning to swim required confronting a lifelong fear rather than avoiding it. Leading organisations through restructures, difficult conversations and periods of significant change demanded the same mindset. Courage was never the absence of fear. It was choosing to move forward despite it.

That is why I believe vulnerability and courage are inseparable. Every courageous decision exposes us to the possibility of failure, criticism, or rejection. Yet without accepting that possibility, meaningful growth rarely occurs. People rarely admire leaders because they never struggle. They admire them because they are willing to struggle in view of others, learn from it and keep moving forward.

Vulnerability is not the opposite of strength; it is the foundation on which authentic leadership is built. When we stop trying to appear invincible and instead choose honesty, humility, and courage, we create the trust that inspires others to do the same. That is where leadership begins, and where lasting influence is made.

Jason Dunn is an ultra-endurance athlete, speaker, high-performance mindset coach, and author.

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