Cool is the emotional straightjacket. It makes us less available for connection which makes us less equipped for leadership roles.

There's no evidence that vulnerabilty is weakness.

Vulnerability is based on mutuality and requires boundaries and trust. It's not oversharing, it's not purging, it's not indiscriminate disclosure, and it's not celebrity-style social media information dumps. Vulnerability is about sharing our feelings and our experiences with people who have earned the right to hear them.

What we know matters but who we are matters more.

Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It's tough to do that when we're terrified about what people might see or think.

Perfect and bulletproof are seductive, but they don’t exist in the human experience.

Raising children who are hopeful and who have the courage to be vulnerable means stepping back and letting them experience disappointment, deal with conflict, learn how to assert themselves, and have the opportunity to fail. If we’re always following our children into the arena, hushing the critics, and assuring their victory, they’ll never learn that they have the ability to dare greatly on their own.