Leading with Vulnerability: Exploring the Effects on Perceptions of Psychological Safety and Leader Competence
Open Access DepositedCurrent research suggests that leaders are instrumental in establishing psychologically safe environments where teams can freely and effectively share information. However, there is limited empirical research investigating the specific behaviors they use to do so, leaving a gap in our understanding of how to apply this knowledge in practice. One idea is that leaders can develop psychological safety by expressing vulnerability (e.g., sharing past mistakes, shortcomings). Through a series of studies, I investigated whether leaders could improve perceptions of psychological safety by sharing vulnerable messages with followers and examined the impact on follower perceptions and team performance. In doing so, I integrate and extend theories of psychological safety, leader communication, and self-disclosure to suggest that leader vulnerability is positively associated with perceptions of psychological safety. Results also suggest that leader vulnerability is positively associated with perceptions of leader competence. Overall, I found evidence to support that leaders can facilitate psychologically safe climates by modeling vulnerable behavior, and that followers perceive them to be more competent because of it. The predicted effects on performance were not supported in the study. I also discuss implications for science and practice, revealing new insights into leader vulnerability and the potential applications to leadership development programs.
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