Leading With Grounded Confidence: Lean Into Your Weaknesses

Yesterday, I attended Heather Whelpley’s Menttium webinar about “Leading with Grounded Confidence” and served on a two-person panel following her presentation. Heather’s first question focused on strategies for leading with grounded confidence.

For me, ironically, this starts with being very open about what I’m NOT good at, which is PowerPoint, Excel, and technology in general.

“When it comes to technology, I’m pretty much a disgrace to millennials everywhere!” I told my colleagues on my first day at Discover in 2021. I wasn’t shy about this during the interview process, either.

Part of the reason I had no problem sharing that then—or here now—is because I’m very confident in the skills I do bring to the table. In my career, I’ve authored a book, started a company, was self-employed for a decade, and have worked directly with leaders for more than 10 years. I’ve done a lot of hard things—things that, quite frankly, speak for themselves.

In my experience, I have found there are three main benefits to being open about things you’re NOT good at.

1) It’s very disarming for those around you. When you’re vulnerable in that way, people don’t see you as a threat. They see you as human. They see you as someone they can relate to and trust.

2) Two, they know if you can be honest about yourself, especially in front of other people, they know you’ll be honest with them, too, and they’ll be more likely to come to you for feedback and value your opinion.

3) When you share what you’re not good at, it gives people who ARE good at those things a chance to come forward and help bring you along, which not only makes them feel good, but also creates a positive, collaborative working environment.

I’ve seen the opposite of this too often in my career. People who were territorial and insecure, always wanting to give off a vibe of expertise. I’m good, I know what I’m doing, I don’t need any help. But the reality is they did need help—and by not asking for it, the team’s collective work suffered.

Ultimately, we all have things we excel at and things we need to work on. Being honest about that is the ultimate form of confidence—and if you can do that with yourself and others, you and your team will benefit.

Tony Meale is a Chicago-based author, ghostwriter, speaker, and coach. He can be reached at 513.519.2812 or on LinkedIn.