Peter Sorgenfrei argues that founders who show doubt to their teams, boards, and investors actually strengthen leadership. People see you as human, want to help more, and commit harder. The trick is practicing it intentionally, whether with mentors, peers, or a coach.
Many of the founders that I meet have bouts of self-doubt. Am I good enough for the job? Am I doing what I'm supposed to? Am I doing what I can? And they have a reluctancy to, to show this vulnerability to people around them, because if they show to their team that they're not quite sure of what they're doing or if they're doing a good enough job, they kind of expect their team to lose faith in them or perhaps start questioning their own sort of belonging in the company and whether or not they should follow their leader if he or she is uncertain about certain topics. And similarly, if they expose themselves to the board saying, you know what, I'm actually not quite sure what to do here, they're afraid that they would put them in a bad light. But the reality is That the more you show that vulnerability, the more that you show that self-doubt, the more your people will actually follow you because they want to see that you're human. They want to see that you also, like them, are not in complete control at all times. And if they're there and if they're following you anyway, they will want to help you figure out what it is that you're unsure about. And the same thing with a good board, right? You want your board members to be the people that you can go to and say, I don't know how to do this, or I don't think I know how to do this. Help me sort it out. So if you find yourself in a world or in a company where you cannot be vulnerable with the people that work for you or with your board members or your investors even, then I'd encourage you to take a look at those people and say, are those really the people that I want to be around me as I build this company. Because of course you should be able to share your self-doubt, and of course they should hold a net under you and support you and help you move along. So if this is you, try it out. Try to be a little bit more vulnerable and show people what's going on inside. And certainly you can talk to somebody like me about it, and I can help you trial and test it out if you want, or you can work with somebody else or just try it on your own. Either way, I'd encourage you to be more open and vulnerable whenever in doubt. Talk to people about it. It will help you and it will help you build better companies.
