Do You Over-Share When You Open Up?

Kudos to leaders who practice vulnerability and make an effort to connect with their team. Here are 5 tips so that sharing does not become oversharing and make people uncomfortable.

It is best to remain “selectively vulnerable”… opening up while still respecting the emotional boundaries of your team.  Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy, co-authors of No Hard Feelings, offer advice on how to do that: 

• Hit the pause button: Notice when you become emotional. It’s hard to be resourceful when your adrenalin is rushing and your emotions are high.
• Don't become emotionally leaky. Learn to identify your emotions, name them, and share them consciously, with both your words and body language. Research shows that highly emotional managers actually make people work less hard.   
• Provide a path forward:  If you are anxious about a challenging project, you can share that while also adding: “Here’s my plan for moving forward.”

• Put yourself in their shoes:  Ask yourself, “How would I feel if my manager shared this with me?”
• Read the room: Stay attuned to when your employees are feeling overwhelmed. “Try to pair realism with optimism and share when you sense it will be helpful to others.”

What methods do you use to reign in extreme emotions at work? To join the conversation, click on "comments" above -- we'd love to hear about your experiences! 

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