Welcome to the Deploy Yourself Newsletter, where I share what impactful leadership looks like to show your own power. I also share the most insightful lessons and stories I encountered in the last two weeks. You can also read this issue online.

Hey,

The Perks of Vulnerability

Most of us are afraid of opening up and admitting our faults. We see vulnerability as a weakness.

Research shows that this fear is totally baseless.

Because when you open up and share, others see it as a strength.

It builds trust and strengthens relationships.

For example – asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.

Admitting to your mistakes is a courageous step which builds trust rather than deplete it. (Counterintuitive, I know!)

Opening up with vulnerability is not comfortable – for sure. And that is why it is a choice – just like most aspects of leadership are.

If you find yourself judging yourself too harshly, practice self-compassion towards yourself as we all tend to be more self-critical than anybody else would be.

Our fear that others may judge us is just that – a fear.

Being kind to ourselves gives us a safe place to operate from and come back to when we need to.

The bottom line is – you might think you are a mess, but others do not think so. Especially when you speak up about it.

Where in your life can you open up and share your deepest fears? To your spouse, a friend, a colleague, or your boss?

Be kind to yourself and share what you think might be embarrassing or messy.

Reply back with any interesting outcomes once you do that. What did you discover about yourself?

PS – Want to see the impact of these principles on your leadership? I love partnering with ambitious leaders and teams. My coaching programs reveal the hidden first principles of all human behaviour, allowing you to produce exponential results (think 100x, not 10x).

PPS – I am opening up all my coaching spots for 2023. There are 3 slots for entire leadership teams, and 11 spots for 1on1 coaching. If you want to explore, book a listening call with me where I ask a few questions and listen.

Fascinating Articles & Stories

One

Establish rituals to set yourself free

Ritual is – or can be – part of all human activity. It governs greetings and conservation.

It’s how you harmonise your life with the rhythms of the world.

And if you take ritual seriously, submit to it and practise it, then transforming your life for the better will go from difficult to effortless.

Good habits (and bad ones) are effortless, reflexive actions cultivated through repetition.

From a guide on Psyche

Two

A List of 8 Expectations From Managers That Employees Have

Great managers don’t happen by accident. They learn from their mistakes and invest in developing their skills.

While it is almost never voiced, employees have certain expectations from their managers. The following are expectations you must fulfil when managing any group of people.

  1. Trustworthiness – Employees are more likely to actualize goals set by leaders they trust and are honest about what is happening in the organization. 
  2. Vision – Having a vision & purpose motivates and inspires people to keep going in spite of the circumstances – which can be chaotic and dynamic.
  3. Effective Communication – It is imperative to be clear, consistent, and transparent when communicating. Leaders should stop using complicated language or hiding behind jargon.
  4. Psychological Safety – In a safe environment, you don’t have to wear a mask and can be completely honest about what you know and what you don’t.
  5. Career and Professional Development SupportPeople are mostly unaware of how they can grow in their careers, and as a coach, you can help them figure this out.
  6. Coaching – Coach people first before offering advice. Coaching enables long term behavior change, while advice is short term.
  7. Strengths-based development – When your employees are doing what they are good at, they will be intrinsically motivated, and their performance will improve as a result. Focusing on weaknesses creates friction which leads to demotivation.
  8. Autonomy – If you hope to inspire your employees to be the best they can be, allow them to make decisions for themselves.

From an article from my desk

Three

Humble Inquiries on Mastering Overwhelm and Teams

“I do not have time is never the whole truth. There is something deeper beyond that. “

“overwhelm and having a sense of too much to do is basically an invitation to ask better questions”

“what makes a team is a set of conversations, not just a hierarchical relationship, are not just something on paper”

 you cannot force people to be a part of a team.

The above are the show notes from the fifth and sixth episodes of the Humble Inquiries series on the Choosing Leadership podcast, which I am co-hosting with Leslie Wireback. Watch out for more episodes in the coming weeks. If you have missed the previous episodes, you can listen to the first, second, and third episodes.

In each episode of Humble Inquiries, we are deliberately going to put ourselves in the uncomfortable space of not knowing the answer and humbly inquiring about these challenges – with the aim to provoke new thoughts, actions, and practices – to help us better serve our coaching clients, and also to help the leader in you navigate the biggest challenges – at life and at work.

To listen to all previous episodes, find the podcast on my website, or on Apple or Spotify. Leave a rating if you love what you hear.

That’s it for now. If you have any questions or feedback, or if you are new and want to introduce yourself, hit reply. I read and respond to every reply. All the best,

Sumit

(Twitter) @SumitGupta
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