Leading with Vulnerability

19What Does Vulnerability Feel Like?

Dr. Love, aka Paul Zak, is a professor of economic sciences, psychology, and management director at the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University. He has been studying vulnerability, empathy, and trustworthiness on a scientific level for a long time. He looks not just at the emotional responses but also at the chemical responses in our brains and bodies via extensive blood testing.

It turns out then when we are vulnerable, it produces a stress response via the release of adrenaline and cortisol, making us uncomfortable, something clearly reflected in some of the following responses. We've all been there, right?

We can all experience vulnerability in different ways, but every CEO told me vulnerability always manifests in some physical way. One of the questions I asked more than 100 CEOs was “When you're vulnerable, what does that feel like in your body?” Here are some of the responses I got back.

“Vulnerability is something I deal with regularly. It brings me back to being the 10‐year‐old kid, called on by the teacher in front of the class to recite the poem he ‘forgot’ to learn, as it triggers a wave of cold sweat and unleashes the guilt of not being good enough. Courage is the remedy!”

—Aart de Geus, CEO, Synopsys

“Vulnerability feels like being apprehensive and even frightened about something to feeling hopeless or being angered. It's not a feeling that generates happiness, and it's one that I'd prefer not to ...