We have found the single most important characteristic for leaders to demonstrate is modeling strength through vulnerability. Leaders often assume they are expected to have all the answers and to always display composure. Even though those attributes are important leadership qualities, employees do not expect leaders to have all the answers. However, they do need company leaders to have the individual and organizational self-awareness to ask the right questions.

That awareness comes from their own ability to acknowledge relative weaknesses and vulnerabilities. When leaders fail to do that and portray an air of having it all together, they make two critical mistakes. If leaders convey that it is “not ok to not be ok,” then employees might mask and ignore their own signs of emotional struggle and fail to reach out for help when needed. Also, if leaders fail to model resiliency amidst failure, their employees might not be able to face their own failure with strength. Be sure to embrace your own vulnerabilities to improve self-awareness, which in turn will foster growth and development, in ourselves and those around us who look to us for guidance.