Leading with Vulnerability: Courageous Leadership in Museums

ID: WMA2026_571

Track:

What does it mean to lead with vulnerability in museum spaces? Grounded in Brené Brown’s research, this panel explores how courage, trust, and authenticity strengthen teams and institutional culture. Presenters will share real-world examples, challenges, and practical strategies for applying vulnerability-based leadership in museums. Attendees will leave with actionable tools to foster connection, resilience, and innovation within their organizations.

Session Information

Format: Regular session/panel (roundtable, single speaker, etc.)

Uniqueness: Applies Brené Brown’s research directly to museum leadership with practical, field-tested examples from multiple institutions and roles.

Objectives:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Define vulnerability in a leadership context and understand its connection to trust, innovation, and team effectiveness in museum environments. 
2. Apply practical strategies from Brené Brown’s research (e.g., rumbling with vulnerability, building trust, embracing difficult conversations) to real workplace scenarios. 
3. Develop an actionable plan to incorporate one vulnerability-based leadership practice into their own organization, tailored to their role and institutional size.  Participants will gain both conceptual understanding and practical tools to foster more open, resilient, and collaborative workplace cultures.

Engagement: Attendees will participate in guided reflection prompts, small-group discussion, and optional sharing moments. Panelists will pose real leadership scenarios and invite audience responses. A takeaway worksheet will help participants identify one vulnerability-based practice to implement immediately.

Relationship to Theme:

Audience

Audiences: Curators/Scientists/Historians Development and Membership Officers Marketing & Communications (Including Social Media) Other Registrars, Collections Managers 

Professional Level: All levels 

Scalability: This session is relevant to institutions of all sizes, from small museums with limited staff to large organizations with complex hierarchies. Vulnerability-based leadership practices—such as building trust, encouraging open communication, and modeling authenticity—can be adapted to any team size, budget, or structure. Examples shared will include both small-team and large-institution contexts.

Participants