Articles / Leadership Vulnerability Quotes: 60 Sayings on Courage and Authenticity
Leadership QuotesDiscover 60 powerful leadership vulnerability quotes. Learn why showing up authentically creates trust, builds teams, and drives better outcomes.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Tue 30th December 2025
Leadership vulnerability quotes capture a counter-intuitive truth that research increasingly confirms: the leaders who acknowledge their limitations, admit their mistakes, and show their humanity don't weaken their authority—they strengthen it. These quotations from scholars, executives, and thought leaders illuminate why vulnerability has become recognised as essential to effective leadership.
Brené Brown, whose research on vulnerability has transformed how organisations think about leadership, offers the foundational insight: "Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it's having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome." This perspective challenges traditional leadership models that prized invulnerability and emotional distance.
The quotes collected here explore vulnerability's role in building trust, creating psychological safety, enabling innovation, and developing authentic connections. Far from weakness, vulnerability emerges as a sophisticated leadership capability—one that separates truly influential leaders from those who merely hold authority.
Vulnerability in leadership refers to the willingness of leaders to show their authentic selves, admit their limitations, and openly express their thoughts and emotions. These quotes illuminate why this matters.
"We need to trust to be vulnerable, and we need to be vulnerable in order to build trust." — Brené Brown
"Trust is the stacking and layering of small moments and reciprocal vulnerability over time. Trust and vulnerability grow together, and to betray one is to destroy both." — Brené Brown
"Remember teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability." — Patrick Lencioni
"A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other." — Simon Sinek
"Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness." — Brené Brown
"Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage." — Brené Brown
"Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity." — Brené Brown
"The willingness to show up changes us. It makes us a little braver each time." — Brené Brown
Authentic leadership requires the courage to be seen as you truly are—imperfect, learning, and human.
"Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen." — Brené Brown
"We desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership and who are self-aware enough to lead from their hearts, rather than unevolved leaders who lead from hurt and fear." — Brené Brown
"Self-awareness and self-love matter. Who we are is how we lead." — Brené Brown
"The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself." — Michel de Montaigne
"I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential." — Brené Brown
"Leaders must either invest a reasonable amount of time attending to fears and feelings or squander an unreasonable amount of time trying to manage ineffective and unproductive behavior." — Brené Brown
"Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind." — Brené Brown
"Daring leaders work to make sure people can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging." — Brené Brown
| Vulnerability Element | Leadership Benefit |
|---|---|
| Admitting mistakes | Builds trust and credibility |
| Asking for help | Creates collaborative culture |
| Sharing uncertainty | Enables collective problem-solving |
| Expressing emotions | Deepens team connection |
| Acknowledging limitations | Opens space for others' strengths |
Vulnerability without courage is simply exposure; with courage, it becomes transformative.
"Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen." — Brené Brown
"We can choose courage, or we can choose comfort, but we can't have both. Not at the same time." — Brené Brown
"The only thing I know for sure after all this research is that if you're going to dare greatly, you're going to get your ass kicked at some point. If you choose courage, you will absolutely know failure, disappointment, setback, even heartbreak. That's why we call it courage. That's why it's so rare." — Brené Brown
"You can't get to courage without walking through vulnerability." — Brené Brown
"Giving feedback, receiving feedback, problem solving, ethical decision making—these are all borne of vulnerability." — Brené Brown
"Vulnerability is not about fear and grief and disappointment. It is the birthplace of everything we're hungry for." — Brené Brown
"Vulnerability is the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, but it appears that it's also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging, of love." — Brené Brown
Psychological safety—the climate where people feel comfortable expressing themselves—depends on leaders who model vulnerability.
"Psychological safety is broadly defined as a climate in which people are comfortable expressing and being themselves. More specifically, when people have psychological safety at work, they feel comfortable sharing concerns and mistakes without fear of embarrassment or retribution." — Amy Edmondson
"High performance doesn't come from pressure. It comes from safety, expertise, and clarity about what matters." — Tom Geraghty
"Learning is hard when the price of honesty is high." — Tom Geraghty
"Fake vulnerability can look like a leader telling us that we can ask questions but not taking the time to create the psychological safety to do it." — Brené Brown
"In one study investigating employee experiences with speaking up, 85% of respondents reported at least one occasion when they felt unable to raise a concern with their bosses, even though they believed the issue was important." — Amy Edmondson
"When leaders openly admit their own vulnerabilities and encourage a learning-oriented mindset, team members feel safe to take risks, experiment, and learn from failures." — Research on Psychological Safety
"The leader who creates psychological safety models curiosity and honesty—being the first to acknowledge their own mistakes and uncertainties." — Anonymous
Vulnerable leadership directly enables team effectiveness through trust and openness.
"When team members become completely comfortable being transparent, honest, and naked with one another and can say things like 'I screwed up,' 'I need help,' and 'Your idea is better than mine,' they develop a deep and uncommon sense of trust." — Patrick Lencioni
"Leadership is not about being in charge. It's about taking care of those in your charge." — Simon Sinek
"The strength of a team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team." — Phil Jackson
"Great leaders don't need to act tough. Their confidence and humility serve to underscore their toughness." — Simon Sinek
"If you want a culture of creativity and innovation, where sensible risks are embraced on both a market and individual level, start by developing the ability of managers to cultivate an openness to vulnerability in their teams." — Brené Brown
"Vulnerability in leadership creates psychological safety by dispelling the fear of failure or making mistakes." — Leadership Research
"Innovation requires experimentation. Experimentation requires the freedom to fail. Freedom to fail requires psychological safety. Psychological safety requires vulnerable leadership." — Anonymous
These quotes acknowledge that vulnerability, whilst valuable, is genuinely difficult.
"Vulnerability is not weakness, and the uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure we face every day are not optional. Our only choice is a question of engagement. Our willingness to own and engage with our vulnerability determines the depth of our courage." — Brené Brown
"Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection." — Brené Brown
"Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do." — Brené Brown
"Vulnerability is the last thing I want you to see in me, but the first thing I look for in you." — Brené Brown
"It can be tempting for leaders to project an image of strength, competence, and invulnerability. But true leadership requires vulnerability and openness to new ideas, perspectives, and feedback." — Leadership Research
"The leader who is too proud to say 'I don't know' creates a culture where no one admits ignorance—and everyone remains ignorant together." — Anonymous
"Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth. It is a shield." — Brené Brown
Vulnerability includes acknowledging failure—a prerequisite for learning.
"There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period." — Brené Brown
"When we deny the story, it defines us. When we own the story, we can write a brave new ending." — Brené Brown
"Failure is not the opposite of success; it is part of success." — Arianna Huffington
"Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them." — Bruce Lee
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." — Thomas Edison
"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." — Henry Ford
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." — Winston Churchill
| Vulnerability Behaviour | What It Enables |
|---|---|
| Admitting "I don't know" | Collective intelligence |
| Sharing failures | Learning culture |
| Asking for feedback | Continuous improvement |
| Expressing uncertainty | Better decision-making |
| Acknowledging emotions | Authentic connection |
Vulnerability enables the genuine human connection that distinguishes great leadership.
"Connection is why we're here. It's what gives purpose and meaning to our lives." — Brené Brown
"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." — Maya Angelou
"The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives." — Esther Perel
"To love at all is to be vulnerable." — C.S. Lewis
"When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability." — Madeleine L'Engle
"What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful." — Brené Brown
"True belonging doesn't require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are." — Brené Brown
Vulnerable leadership is the willingness to show your authentic self—admitting limitations, acknowledging mistakes, expressing uncertainty, and being genuine about your humanity whilst leading others. Rather than projecting invincibility, vulnerable leaders create trust through honesty and openness. Research demonstrates this approach builds stronger teams, enables innovation, and creates psychological safety.
Vulnerability is important because it builds trust—the foundation of effective teams. When leaders admit mistakes and limitations, they create psychological safety that encourages others to take risks, share ideas, and learn from failures. Brené Brown's research shows vulnerability is "our most accurate measurement of courage" and enables creativity, belonging, and authentic connection.
Brené Brown argues that vulnerability is essential for courageous leadership. Key insights include: "We need to trust to be vulnerable, and we need to be vulnerable in order to build trust"; "Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage"; and "We desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership." She defines vulnerability as taking action despite uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.
When leaders openly admit their own vulnerabilities—mistakes, uncertainties, limitations—they signal that imperfection is acceptable. This dispels fear of failure and creates safety for team members to take risks, ask questions, and share concerns. Research by Amy Edmondson shows psychological safety is the main differentiator in high-performing teams, and vulnerable leadership directly enables it.
No—vulnerability and weakness are distinct. Brené Brown emphasises: "Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness." Vulnerability is the courage to show up authentically despite uncertainty; weakness is the absence of strength. Vulnerable leaders demonstrate strength through honesty, not invincibility.
Leaders can practise vulnerability by admitting when they don't know something, asking for help, acknowledging mistakes openly, expressing genuine appreciation, sharing appropriate personal struggles, and creating space for others' vulnerability. The key is authenticity—"fake vulnerability" undermines trust. Start small, build trust incrementally, and ensure vulnerability serves team benefit rather than personal therapy.
Key quotes include Brené Brown's "Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage" and "We need to trust to be vulnerable, and we need to be vulnerable in order to build trust"; Patrick Lencioni's "Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability"; and Simon Sinek's "A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other."
These leadership vulnerability quotes illuminate a profound shift in how we understand effective leadership. The traditional model—projecting strength, hiding weakness, maintaining emotional distance—has given way to recognition that authentic, vulnerable leadership actually builds stronger influence.
The wisdom collected here converges on essential truths: vulnerability enables trust, trust enables teamwork, teamwork enables performance. Leaders who acknowledge their humanity don't diminish their authority—they deepen their connection with those they lead.
Yet these quotes also acknowledge the difficulty. Vulnerability requires courage precisely because it involves genuine risk. The leader who admits "I don't know" might be judged. The leader who shares uncertainty might lose confidence. The leader who acknowledges failure might face consequences. That's why it's courage—and why it's rare.
For those willing to embrace vulnerability, these quotes provide both permission and guidance. They remind us that the bravest leadership isn't about invincibility but about showing up authentically, building trust through honesty, and creating environments where others can do the same.