Have you ever been in a business meeting listening to the discussion and wonder, why can’t people be more honest and transparent, able to admit when they’re wrong, need help, or missed their target?

One of the most frustrating challenges of organizational culture is people’s unwillingness to be vulnerable. Without vulnerability it is impossible to build a cohesive leadership or working team.

Understanding what vulnerability looks like in the workplace and then working through these simple activities are bound to build trust in any organization.

What does vulnerability have to do with organizational culture?

According to vulnerability expert, Brené Brown, vulnerability can be defined as “uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.” It is that feeling of instability when we step out of our comfort zone to try something new or when we need to have real, and sometimes, hard conversations. 

Vulnerability is a challenge in of itself and vulnerability at work can be an even bigger challenge. But without vulnerability, there is little trust, and without trust there is often negative or poor organizational culture.

Building vulnerability-based trust is the first step to building honesty and true cohesion within any team or organization.

This is unfortunately easier said than done.

Since people are often reluctant to share too much too quick, starting with small, low-risk activities is the best place to start.

One such activity is called Personal History. I read about this activity in the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (2002) by Patrick Lencioni.  This activity can be completed relatively quickly and easily.

Activity #1: Personal History

During time you’ve set aside in your organization for teambuilding, such as a staff meeting or an off-site leadership or team meeting, provide participants with a brief list of questions related to their personal history.

These questions get at the heart of who people are, their unique motivations, and their personal challenges. Some suggested questions are listed below, but you can change these if you feel others would work better.

• Where did you grow up?

• Where do you fall in your family’s birth order?

• What was your greatest achievement as a child?

• What was your greatest challenge as a teenager?

• What was your first job?

After the participants have been given 5-10 minute to think through and/or jot down their answers, everyone takes turns sharing and listening to each other’s 1-3-minute response. Sharing can be completed within a team, by department or in groups.

This discussion should take 15-20 minutes and people always learn something new about their colleagues’ backgrounds. It likely will lead to respect among team members as they understand their colleagues’ hardships and challenges.

Most notably, it allows people to participate in a low-risk, high-reward activity where everyone is equal. From the CEO to the newest hire everyone is working together to become more comfortable with vulnerability.

I personally have participated in this type of activity in a whole staff environment. It was well-received. It also helped build community within a workplace that that had very poor culture. But it was only step one. Other follow-up activities, like the ones below, should have been completed, to build a stronger culture. 

Activity #2: Profiling

Profiling is a second activity highlighted in the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. This activity is slightly more advanced than the first in terms of digging deeper into ourselves and our vulnerability. But only slightly.

There are many tools you can use for this activity. Author and business consultant Patrick Lencioni, recommends the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator because of its popularity and accuracy. 16Personalities is a tool I have personally used and liked because of its simplicity and how remarkably accurate it was. Either option works well, is free, asks 130 questions, and takes 10-15 minutes to complete.  

Once you decide on your preferred tool, provide each member of your team access to the link and 15 minutes to complete the survey. Another 10-15 minutes should be allotted for them to read through their personality type, digest the information, and personally reflect on what it might mean to them.

After this is complete, each person briefly shares their personality type with the team.

While I have not participated in this activity in a work environment, I have at home, with my husband. It was interesting, confirming, and a bit eye-opening when we realized that some of our behaviours and reactions to situations were linked to our personality traits. Let me explain.

According to the 16Personalities test, I am an ENFJ, The Protagonist. The Protagonist is an intuitive thinker who a feeler, highly idealistic, true to their values, and a tireless cheerleader for people’s dreams and ambitions. My husband is an ENTP, a logic-driven debater, who is critical, rational, loves mental stimulation, and has a healthy appetite for new ideas and world views. Our love for learning and enjoyment of intellectual conversations brings us together. On the other hand, he sometimes finds my idealism a bit much, whereas I might interpret his behaviour as too rational or lacking empathy.

Knowing our personalities strengthens our relationship and our understanding of one another. It can also strengthen your team too.

Alternative Twists

To change this activity slightly, you may wish to briefly outline each personalities type before giving your team access to the survey. This can add an interesting self-awareness component to the activity.

Additionally, as a team leader, you could create a spreadsheet of people’s attributes and organize work teams by their personalities after this activity has been completed. Discussing this information with the team could also present additional insights. Perhaps opportunities and partnerships will arise and unexpected improvement in your organization’s outcomes could be a result.

No matter what the format, the goal is for each team member to share their personality, comfortably and transparently. It may be easier to share or validate personality strengths, as outlining personality limitations does make a person more vulnerable. But it is in an enjoyable low-stakes activity that allows the team to get to know one another better.

Activity #3: Team Effectiveness Exercise

The Team Effectiveness Exercise, also highlighted in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, is another activity that builds organizational culture. This activity is more challenging though; it subjects people to increased levels of vulnerability. It focuses on building accountable behaviours in the organization.

While accountability often is related to meeting targets, it also can mean holding people responsible for their behaviour.

Negative behaviours are difficult to address because they aren’t quantifiable, and they can be subject to interpretation. Unfortunately, behaviour does impact a person’s performance and is likely to impact the team and the organization too.

Employee behaviours are a challenge in many organizations, and the Team Effectiveness Exercise may help. It is very simple to do and has a strong impact.

It will make people very vulnerable and should only be attempted if the team has a solid foundation of trust already established.  Lencioni suggests completing this exercise at the end of a two-day off-site meeting.

The exercise begins by everyone writing down one thing that each of the team members do well. It can’t be a technical skill. It must be a personality trait or behaviour that makes the team stronger. Some examples could include, strong leadership, innovation, inclusiveness, or being grounded in ethics and integrity.

When complete, the team repeats the activity, but this time they focus on one behaviour that they feel each colleague does that hurt the team. This can be a regular behaviour or an occasional behaviour that their colleague exhibits. Examples could include, missing deadlines, little attention to detail, not communicating about progress, using a condescending tone, or not replying to emails.

Once all these behaviours are considered and/or jotted down, the team shares.

The activity starts with the team leader and every member of the team shares one personality trait that they feel their leader exhibits that strengthens their team. A one-sentence reaction or response is allowed from the leader after everyone else has spoken.

Then, everyone shares one characteristic that they feel the leader exhibits that may hurt the team. Again, the leader can offer a one-sentence response. Not a rebuttal. Just a reaction.

The exercise is then repeated with each other member of the team. It should take about 10 minutes per team member.

Author, Patrick Lencioni, uses this activity often and states that many leaders are humbled and surprised by the positive feedback. He has also found, in almost every case, there is acceptance and appreciation of the areas where they need to grow.

Perhaps an outside consultant in the room leading the activity keeps people more open and honest. Or perhaps having your team ready for this next challenge is what is most needed.

If you don’t feel your team is quite ready for this activity, a modification could be offered. Each member of the team could discuss what they feel is their most positive and hurtful behaviour that relates to the team. This still makes people vulnerable, but it is less threatening. It is likely to be less impactful too. That is the trade-off.

Perhaps in time, you can move to the original variation, but you’ll have to decide where your team is and how far you’re willing to encourage people to grow.

Great rewards and growth come from leaning into discomfort, but it does take time and consistent effort.

Conclusion

Vulnerability in any context is hard. Vulnerability in the workplace can be even harder. Yet, to build a strong organizational culture it is imperative.

These activities can get you started, but is important to note, that culture building happens every day. Consistently showing up with kindness and compassion is important. Being honest and holding each other accountability is equally important. Leading by example is a great way to start.

Best wishes, Lauren

P.s. If you would like to learn more about how to build a stronger culture in your organization, sign up for a free 30-minute consultation to see how we can help.