The Importance of Confiding in Someone - 24 Hours with the Women in Pharma® at ISPE
There is a real advantage in opening up and confiding in someone. Being vulnerable can be a superpower, but it does not mean that you should trust everyone with everything. It also does not mean that you should always emotionally charged break downs. Being vulnerable and confiding in someone means that you approach conversations with self-awareness, courage, and a willingness to face your fear and move forward. The whole goal is to reach for growth and excellence. It takes courage to see and dare to show your true self. The advantage to actually doing this is happiness and growth.
Bestselling Author Brene’ Brown has been writing books and giving TED talks about vulnerability and the path to happiness. One of her quotes that I love is that “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.” By being vulnerable with what is affecting my daily efforts, I have been able to get advice that I needed to hear. The biggest innovation that was said to me was “Are YOU the only one that can do that task? Can you not hand it off?” That is so simple – but shocked me. I had not thought of that.
It is shocking what you find out when you approach a conversation with openness. One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is that no one understands my situation. We worry about our jobs, our careers, our bosses, our health, our figure, our children, and our family: and that was all before we got out of the shower this morning. Both women and men deal with the feeling that somehow - “I have to be able to provide the right answer for all.” This where loneliness and anxiety start.
It is not until you are vulnerable that you find out that others can help. Being vulnerable is the first step towards happiness because being vulnerable allows others to see your original soul and provide love in the form of help, advice, confirmation, kindness, and validation. Vulnerability defines that moment when you find out that you are not the only one that is struggling or find out that you do not have to have every answer.
Confiding in someone else opens your future and your ability to change. You find out that other people have answers and that they may have some advice that cracks open a block that you have been fighting with.
In the career world, confiding in someone allows for a more open approach to growth. Confiding in someone about your frustrations, fears, and joys associated with work can allow for an outside opinion that helps you to see new views. Sometimes just saying thoughts out loud allow you to apply intention to a goal that you were afraid to chase. Talk to those people that you see struggling to become better and more. They are the ones that are just a couple of strides ahead of you in changing their lives based on some dream they realized. Sometimes the answers are not as clear as we want them to be and we need someone to point out the things that become obvious later.
Interested in learning more on the topic of confiding in someone and connecting with leaders from the pharma industry? Check out the ISPE 24 Hours with the Women in Pharma® event being held on 27 – 28 October.
