By Jill Taylor, (RN, MN), Co-founder/CEO of The HuPerson Project
The qualities of vulnerability and integrity at first glance seem to point to static states of being. And yet when we look at them more deeply, they can help us understand how to make progress in developing our business.
The original meaning of the word, “vulnerable,” refers to the possibility of being physically wounded, although it now carries the connotation of being defenseless against non-physical attacks. A person can be vulnerable to criticism or failure as well. One response to being vulnerable is to shore oneself up, to defend and to strengthen so that we are no longer vulnerable.
In his book Mastery, thinker Peter Greene looks at vulnerability differently, suggesting it can be an asset in business. He turns our attention to the term negative capability. The poet John Keats coined this phrase to express the opposite of an insistence on rigid reason. Greene puts this idea to use as a way of moving forward in the world of business.
Here’s what Greene writes: “To put Negative Capability into practice, you must develop the habit of suspending the need to judge everything that crosses your path. You consider and even momentarily entertain viewpoints opposite to your own, seeing how they feel. You observe a person or event for a length of time, deliberately holding yourself back from forming an opinion. You seek out what is unfamiliar—for instance, reading books from unfamiliar writers in unrelated fields or from different schools of thought. You do anything to break up your normal train of thinking and your sense that you already know the truth.”
Rather than shoring up what they already know, as thought leaders we can become curious about what we don’t know, initiating a process of inquiry. When we are able to investigate our own mode of thinking as a way of outing our outdated historical understanding, we become less certain of our certainties, and we open up space for the unknown to emerge, allowing for an influx of innovation, and creative direction. And in this way, vulnerability becomes a strength.
Similarly, integrity uses negative capability to transcend rigid certainties and to make room for the new. In the 1400s, the word “integrity” carried the idea of blamelessness, derived from the Old French word integer, or wholeness, an idea we have carried over into modern times in mathematics to designate the integer, the whole number, as opposed to the fraction.
Once we have loosened our grip on our own preconceived ideas and are no longer overly attached to being right, a deepening process of inquiry follows. We might ask ourselves, what truly is my motive for this particular decision, and can you tell the truth about that, answering by telling the truth to ourselves first.
It is possible to be a thought leader with a quick mind, with the ability to pull together cross cultural, cross discipline, cross domain factors without being committed to doing the right thing. How do we know? As thought leaders we can develop a process of investigating our motives and our intentions.
As we deepen this process of inquiry, we find ourselves examining why we are on this planet, what that calls us to do, and who that calls us to become. This inquiry grows to include the business as well: why was this business created, and what does that call us to do in our company, and who does that call us to become.
With a commitment to being truthful, no matter what the consequences are to yourself, the company and the larger community, we are able to hold ourselves accountable for that inquiry, without excuses or rationalising, even questioning our own definition of the truth. Integrity also requires a responsiveness to the needs of this moment.
To say I made a promise I must keep, no matter what, and in spite of the harm it is causing is not integrity; that’s rigidity. At the same time, as the indigenous peoples have taught us, are we, as thought leaders, able to contemplate the effects of our decisions down to the seventh generation?
Vulnerability and integrity are linked. No matter what we believe, without vulnerability, other perspectives won’t come into play, and our decisions will not be coming from the whole. By seeking out opposing views and by initiating a continuous practice of inquiry, integrity can be seen as a process. Do my actions match my intention? And does my motive, my intention match my sense of why I am here, and why I started this company? By a deepening practice of inquiry, the thought leaders can model this movement toward wholeness by learning how to hold contradictions, how to be vulnerable when new problems arise, and how to enter into the space of negative capability, becoming receptive to the new coming through.
Jill Taylor, (RN, MN) Co-founder / CEO
Co-founder and CEO of three businesses, Jill Taylor has devoted her career to fostering unique methods of transformation for individuals, teams and companies. She co-founded The Taylor Group with her mother, Carolyn Taylor, at the forefront of wellness and leadership, helping clients understand the nature of the changes confronting them and how to become new inside those changes. Then as CEO of Burgerville, Jill helped the company navigate COVID with strategic flexibility while strengthening local economies by working with local farmers to the benefit of all. Together with Shelly Cooper and Daniel Goodenough, in 2023, Jill co-founded the HuPerson Project to transform a leader’s awareness and presence, and to open a new structure of thinking needed to navigate the world emerging.