All core values
Trust
Vulnerability
Being willing to risk exposure — admitting mistakes, asking for help, and naming uncertainty before you have a clean answer.
Behaviors
- Says 'I don't know' and invites others in
- Shares failures as learning material
- Asks for help from people at any level
Anti-patterns
- Vulnerability theater that extracts sympathy without change
- Leaders who confess but never act
- Punishing people for admitting gaps
Reinforce it with
- Leader failure logs
- Blameless post-mortems
- Hiring panels that reward honest self-assessment
Vulnerability is the signal that turns a hierarchy into a team.