I thought strength meant showing no weakness. But I’ve learned that the strongest thing we can do isn’t hiding our cracks, it’s lifting others, even when we feel exposed ourselves.

Vulnerability is part of that. It’s choosing honesty over performance. It’s saying: “Here’s where I’m at. Here’s what I see in you. Here’s what matters.” It creates the kind of trust that makes everyone stronger.

And the most powerful part? Vulnerability plays a positive-sum game; it creates more for everyone involved.

When you admit failure, you show someone else they’re not alone.
When you share doubt, you permit someone else to be real.
When you appreciate someone, you remind them they matter.

Each act of openness multiplies, because it lifts others as much as it frees you. That’s the kind of strength that compounds.

I’ve made it a habit to appreciate the people around me at every possible opportunity. To say thank you. To point out what I admire. To tell someone when their work or presence mattered to me.

It feels small, but it’s vulnerability in action. Because every time you do it, you’re admitting someone touched you. You’re opening yourself to connection. And connection is what carries us further than we could go alone.

Abraham Lincoln wrote what became known as the “Meditation on the Divine Will.” It was a private note where he admitted, plainly, that he could not control the outcome of the war, that the fate of the nation might be beyond him. He never intended to publish it. It wasn’t a strategy.

But this posture of humility, of acknowledging his limits, shaped the way he led. People trusted him not because he pretended to have every answer, but because he dared to admit he didn’t. That kind of vulnerability made him one of the most respected figures in history.

The lesson: showing your uncertainty doesn’t take power away. It builds the kind of trust that power alone never could.

Vulnerability is about showing you have enough of it to be real. It’s simply a way of being human.

And sometimes, the strongest thing you can do is be human enough to lift someone else.

Follow me on X and LinkedIn
Share this newsletter with a friend!!!