Can Leaders Be Vulnerable and Successful at the Same Time?

Despite the glamour that sometimes befalls an entrepreneur–after they’ve closed a round, amassed a high valuation, or exited a company–the road to getting there can be rough. The ups and downs of not only starting a company, but also managing to sustain it can get ugly at times.

This burden weighs on no one heavier than the founder, co-founders or leaders of a company. This person or group of people bear the good and bad and are often expected to do it all with a smile and positive attitude. That’s what good leaders do, right?

But Brad Feld, entrepreneur and managing director of the Foundry Group, says this shouldn’t always have to be the case.

“I think the notion of a leader being vulnerable, being human, allowing herself to express how she actually is feeling in the context of leadership is very, very powerful.”

In this video, Brad takes us through how a CEO or founder who accepts his or her vulnerability and leans on others around them for support and advice can be even stronger in the long run.