The courage to be vulnerable: An open letter to the 2017 IA cohort

Dear 2017 innovators, 

These last days, I've been doing some reflecting on our progress as a cohort and, yes, it's been a learning curve. You guys have been faced with a lot of novelty; yet you were able to come out of your comfort zone and try out new things, the crowd-sourcing of grades being only one of them.  

However, our cohort is only 2 months old, and I'm sure that you'd agree with me that being such a young group, we still need to work on the aspect of trust. In one of our class discussions, Nickle, wisely stated that it takes time for a group of people to have deep trust in one another. And I couldn't agree more. Yet we need to start asking ourselves, what does it take to achieve deep trust within a group over time? 

Last week, I listened to a student face the rest of his peers and open-up about his progress as a learner. Like us, the IA junior class had been crowd-sourcing grades for the whole week.

I could sense the discomfort, as he sought for the right words to explain the why’s of his actions.  In the meantime, the others listened to him attentively; you could hear the drop of a needle. The words slowly started to flow and so did the tears, but the uneasiness quickly morphed into relief as it all came out. His bad habits, his fears, his desires. The moment felt so genuine; it was as if he was finally able to articulate what had been troubling him for so long.   

The fact is that most probably he would have never opened-up in this way had he not been challenged by his friends. His peers' feedback had been blunt and straightforward. Many grown-ups  would have struggled in their place; however something powerful takes place when when we are given the opportunity to see ourselves through the eyes of others: we get perspective. 

So why am I sharing this anecdote with you? Going back to fostering a culture of trust, it all starts with us holding ourselves accountable for collective growth. It’s the idea of caring so much about the others that you’re willing to have a brutally honest conversation with them, no matter how uncomfortable it might be, so that they can be challenged to grow. Because as Barreto put it, if one person grows, then the whole group will. 

But if we want to be able to have these genuine conversations, we must first be willing to be vulnerable. We unwittingly mistake vulnerability for weakness; if anything, it takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable.  

Going back to the Grade 11 crowd-sourcing anecdote, he opened up because he chose to trust. It was trust that helped him let the other people in, allowing them to catch a glimpse of his fears, his insecurities and his aspirations. His vulnerability allowed him to strip down all the protective gear and simply be himself. By being authentic, he put others in the condition to empathize with him.  And when that happens, deep bonds are formed.

So, if you want to understand yourselves and bring value to the world, you'll need to be self-aware and reflective. This will require that you take a leap of faith and seek for opportunities where you can open-up to your peers and be vulnerable in front of them, because the insight it brings is invaluable. 

Yes it takes time to build trust, but it will also take a lot of courage from each and every single one of you.