Written by Kathy Fauble, M.Ed., Director, Professional Education Services

If you have been a reader of our leadership moments, you know we are fans of Brené Brown. This summer she has been doing a podcast with her two sisters where they talk about the gift of imperfection. I don’t know about you, but it is a new spin for me to think about my imperfections as a gift. I am certainly not a perfectionist, but I know we all have such pride and fear that sometimes it keeps us from being our authentic self.

I grew up in a family that was hard-wired completely different than I was. We didn’t have the same humor, the same thought processes, or sometimes even value the same things. It was such a relief in life when I found my first kindred spirit that could embrace my weirdness. I struggled living in a family of left brain, type A individuals. I often felt like I was trying to shove my round peg life into a square hole. One of Brené Brown’s core lessons is accepting yourself just the way you are and embracing all your strengths as well as flaws. Here is what she has to say:

“We live in a culture of never enough: Never good enough, skinny enough, popular enough, never enough Twitter followers… And there’s only one way out of scarcity and that is enoughness. At some point, we just need to say “enough”: I am enough. What I‘m doing is enough. It’s about waking up in the morning and saying: No matter what gets done and how much is done and how it’s done, I’m enough and I’m worthy of belonging and love and joy.”

As a leader you may find it hard to get behind embracing imperfection in yourself and others. Brené believes you can only inspire others and truly be a great leader when you know who you are and are comfortable in you own skin. Then you can truly share your story and take leadership to a whole new level.