Great Leaders Are Like Ducks… Here’s Why

You ever heard that great leaders are like ducks, calm and cool and serene, floating on the top of a pond, but underneath, their little feet are just going crazy. You never know. Leaders, great leaders never show they're in panic. And so in my head, in my early leadership career, that was it. I was confident, I was cool. I kept my personal and business lives completely separate. I was not vulnerable enough to say when I didn't have answers. I mean, I would make them up on the spot. Had to have all the answers. Right or wrong, I'm the leader. And many, many, many, too many to share, but so many examples and stories of, like, wow, people don't trust perfection, trust authenticity. They trust a leader's willingness to be vulnerable. And it took me a really, really long time, and it's just not inherently who I am or even how I was raised. And so learning the softer side of. Of myself, learning the softer side of allowing vulnerability to come into leadership. And I think that's where you get to see a little bit of the balance of the personal and professional.