The Learning Power in Embracing Vulnerability
vulnerability | vʌln(ə)rəˈbɪlɪti/ | noun
“The quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.”
I don’t think there are many people out there who haven’t come across Brené Brown’s TED talk on “The Power of Vulnerability”. In it, she shares what she’s learnt from her years of research into connection, shame, vulnerability, and what it means to be a “Whole Hearted” person that lives from a deep sense of self-worth.
Brené talks about the one of the things that “Whole Hearted” people have in common – “they fully embraced vulnerability. They believed that what made them vulnerable, made them beautiful. They didn’t talk about vulnerability being comfortable, nor did they really talk about it being excruciating, they just talked about it being necessary.”
She shares that vulnerability can be the core of shame, fear and our struggle for worthiness, but that it’s also the birthplace of joy, creativity, and belonging.
Looking at the dictionary definition above – it’s easy to see why for many, reaching a vulnerable state can cause a visceral sense of danger. But as Brené has seen in her research, it can be critical to finding your self worth and living a “whole hearted” life.
Our work in learning transfer completely reinforces the message that Brené’s TED talk has exposed.
We often refer to the importance of vulnerability in successful learning transfer – it plays a crucial part in creating real behavioural change after a learning initiative, as it’s only when someone is vulnerable that they are prepared to look at what’s working well and what they can do differently to create an an even better result.
There are 2 main ways that we create the conditions for vulnerability in transfer.
Firstly, ensuring that learning transfer conversations are confidential between the learner and transfer specialist enables people to be vulnerable. This works particularly well if the transfer specialist is external to the organisation but can also be set up if they are part of an internal team.
A safe, confidential conversation with an anonymous specialist can really support learners to pinpoint their challenges and get clarity on the things that they could do better to execute learning fully. The anonymity enables a deeper level of vulnerability required to have an honest conversation with themselves.
Secondly, our secret weapon – the telephone. The phone is the best solution to tap into a person’s vulnerability. With no judgement, and no visual cues, a conversation over the phone will encourage an individual to listen to their internal dialogue; effectively having a conversation with themselves. Questions and conversation go straight into the individual’s ear, supporting them to access their internal dialogue directly.
Using the telephone means the individual can’t see their learning transfer specialist and that way they feel less self-conscious, therefore more likely to be open, honest and vulnerable.
It’s a bit like when you are away at a conference, often it seems that many will have a more intimate conversation with their partner over the phone than they would over the dinner table.
I’m always astonished at the transformation that accessing vulnerability can create. People will share things with us on learning transfer calls that they have never shared before. We consider it to be a real privilege that people can be vulnerable with us in this way to help improve learning outcomes, because at the end of the day we all want to use learning to create better outcomes.
We must support learners to embrace vulnerability, and diminish the culture that does not condone mistakes. Encourage learners to fail frequently and be vulnerable enough to reflect on their failures (and successes!) to create real, lasting, learning transfer.