Have you ever had a leader that couldn’t bring themselves to admit failure, like real failure?

Leaders that do this are telling their teams several unhealthy things.

They are communicating that failure is something to be avoided at all costs instead of learned from. They are communicating that they have no weaknesses even though everyone else knows differently. And they are communicating to their teams that taking the blame for anything will likely cost you your influence on the team.

These are poison to a team. 

If you want to know a secret, things change when somebody decides to get real.

Maybe a project is failing and it’s that person’s fault. Or maybe they need to apologize to someone in the room for what they said yesterday. Or maybe their child is seriously ill and they just are not able to give 100% at work right now.

When a leader decides to get real with the room, things start to change in a big way. The room begins to relate to their leader as a person instead of just a CEO. They feel empathy and want to help. And they begin to feel permission to open up when things aren’t going well. 

The next time you feel the urge to force a game face at all costs, consider getting real with your team. Your influence with the group will go up; not down.

And you may find that your team would love nothing more than to rally around you in your own time of need.