Brené Brown on getting it right: "It's not fear that gets in the way of daring leadership, it's armor."

Hello Monday host Jessi Hempel is on leave. In her absence, LinkedIn editorial fellow Samantha Roberson brings you this week's newsletter.

This article is part of LinkedIn’s #ConversationsForChange initiative for International Women’s Day. Follow our comprehensive coverage here.

A note from the Hello Monday team: On Tuesday, March 16, several members of the Asian American community were killed in their place of work in Atlanta, Georgia. We stand committed to our AAPI colleagues, community members, and beloved friends. We condemn these hateful acts and will continue to raise our voices in solidarity and support.

This week, we're sharing another podcast we make here at LinkedIn: This is Working with Daniel Roth, the Editor-in-Chief of LinkedIn News.

On This Is Working, Dan talks to leaders who have had a significant impact on business and society. In this episode from December 2020, he talks with Brené Brown about vulnerability, healthy boundaries, and the importance of committing to getting it right rather than needing to be right - ideas that are always on our minds here at Hello Monday.

Brené Brown is a research professor and five-time NYT bestselling author who specializes in empathy, connectivity, and vulnerability. She currently hosts two podcasts and is the first researcher to have a filmed lecture on Netflix. Her community on LinkedIn is nearly 2.5 million people strong. 

The two pandemics discussed in this episode: COVID-19 and racial injustice are absolutely affecting work at every level — and people seem much more eager to talk about that in professional settings than they used to be, including LinkedIn. Our world is changing. Our conversations need to change too. 

You can download the episode to hear about it, or listen to it below. Then, please, share your own thoughts and tag them #HelloMonday so we can jump into the conversation.

💡Here are some highlights….

On how we will adapt post-pandemic: "We had two pandemics and we're still in the middle of both. One is COVID and the other's a pandemic of racial injustice. I don't think we are going to go back to normal around either one of those things, which is we need to build new systems, better ways of being together, more equity and inclusivity and diversity. We need more representation."

On having hard conversations as a leader: "One of the hallmarks of courageous leadership is the ability and willingness to have hard conversations and not tap out or delegate."

On how to learn from others as a leader: "I'm not here to be right. I'm here to get it right. And that's what we need to build in our leaders and the culture of our organizations. We're not here to be right. We're here to get it right. We're not here to be knowers. We're here to be learners. And that's the bottom line, to be better people."

On inequity and the pandemic: "Shame cannot survive empathy. And job loss right now is not about you. It's about a broken system. It's about a pandemic. It's about a pandemic that also revealed huge inequality fault lines across our countries and our organizations."

On vulnerability and boundaries: "Vulnerability is not weakness. It's the birthplace of courage and trust and creativity and innovation — to me, vulnerability at work means you don't tap out of hard conversations. You hold people accountable instead of blaming or shaming. You don't talk about people. You talk to people, you don't act like the knower."

On starting your career: "Two words, nothing wasted. That's my career advice."

🪐 Office Hours: Taking your questions

How do you blend authenticity, vulnerability, and healthy workplace boundaries? If you're at home now, how will this change when you go back to the office? We're going to go live from the LinkedIn News Page to talk about it. Follow the page and join us on Wed afternoon at 3p ET to add your perspective to the conversation!

📖 Transcripts: Now available.

Each week we'll be updating these articles with a link to the transcript of the episode. Here's this week's transcript.