Who wants to hug a crocodile?

Last summer, whilst on holiday in France, my seven-year-old son broke his arm on a bouncy castle.

My wife and I aren’t worriers by nature, but we were aware of the manifold practical difficulties of his having his right arm in a cast. He is right-handed and he was due to start a new school.

So, in those formative first weeks of term, my son was unable to play sports and get onto sports teams, or get involved in the rough and tumble of the playground, or play his guitar – all those things that would enable him to settle into this new environment and make friends.

We need not have worried, however.

His cast and sling, if anything, eased the settling in process.

Staff went out of their way to reassure him.

Pupils clamoured to find out the exact grisly details of the accident: ‘Were you pushed or did you fall?’ Let’s face it: kids are drawn to gore and misfortune.

Some dads joked that my son should’ve concocted something a little more edgy: a kite-surfing accident, whilst being set upon by sharks or pirates in the Caribbean, that type of thing.

But I don’t think it’s so much his being different that has made the difference.

It was his very visible vulnerability.

He’s not overly shy but he was less sure of himself. A broken arm has this effect.

But this made him all the more approachable.

We all want to project confidence. And yet the irony is that we warm to people who are a little uncertain.

Why? Well, we want to reassure, and we don’t ourselves feel threatened.

We’d prefer to hug a kitten than a crocodile.

We have learned to approach others with the barriers up when, the truth is, the armour gets in the way.

So, the next time you feel nervous before that big networking event or that all-important presentation, lose the barriers that we unthinkingly erect. Don’t attach so much importance to them.

I am not advocating pouring your heart out to everyone you meet. But the other extreme is equally undesirable.

A little vulnerability means not scaring people off.

And that for me seems to be the spirit of the new LinkedIn.