Lia Zorzou: Why being vulnerable is the best thing you can do as an entrepreneur

Imagine someone always asking more from themselves, to give more, to show more, to work more, to be strong and fearless, to never stop, to never take time out for themselves… what emotions do you have just reading this about this person?

I would feel sorry for them.

This is what we have learned to do though. To ask, ask and ask from ourselves without taking some time to relax, to ask ourselves how we are, what we really need and want. 

We put everybody’s expectations above our own and we run every day like this is a 100m race. 

And we believe that the race is with others; the truth though is that the race is with ourselves.  

You need to sit next to you every single day to ask yourself: “How do you feel? What do you need me to do for you today?” without being judgemental; we need to listen to ourselves and feel ourselves. And then we need to deliver. So, we can feel full, content, free to live our lives and run our businesses. 

You see you can never give from an empty cup. Our cup needs to be full and overflowing so we can give. 

And if we are not there for ourselves, how are we going to be there for our team members, our family, our coworkers? We can never be truly there for them. 

If a leader shows acceptance, love and unconditional care for themselves then their team members will dare to do the same. And this is how relationships are built. 

Being vulnerable as a leader, sharing your failures, your pains, your weaknesses allows your people to feel human. You are not a bad leader if you do so, you are an amazing incredible leader who can be there for themselves and others by being true. 

And in that case your followers can own up to mistakes, can ask questions, can be inspired to imagine and take actions so they can offer an incredible service to you and your business. They know that they are not going to be judged and feel less than. 

Being human and vulnerable means being true to yourself every single time.  

If you dare to be human towards yourself, your people will do the same and this is where innovation and change truly comes from; the ability and the courage to make decisions without worrying about risks being certain that if it feels right, it is right for ALL! 

And great leaders should embrace the freedom to be true to ourselves every single day! 

Lia Zorzou, PhD is a leadership and emotional intelligence consultant, and is the founder of the ‘Leadership Programme’, the first experiential emotional intelligence online leadership programme in the world.