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Why
Telling The Truth Is A Powerful Business And Career (And Life)
Strategy
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By Kathy
Caprino
I've been stunned
lately with the power of telling the truth - the raw, uncensored
truth.
It's such a release,
relief, and a joy to let the truth rip, rather than wasting so much
psychic energy "spinning" the truth so that you project an image of
doing better than you feel you are. (Those of you
who've seen My 52 Mistakes know I'm committed
to telling the truth about my mistakes, as hard as that
is.)
Always
Fantastic? I Think Not
I once knew a guy in
my corporate life who, when asked, "How you doing, Fred? would
answer, "Fantastic!" Every single day, Fred responded
that he was "Fantastic." God, I hated
that. How can you be fantastic every single
day?
I tried to figure out
what was up with this man. I asked my mom what she
thought about it, and she said, "Anyone who's happy every day is an
idiot!" Ha!
In trying to
understand Fred, here's what I came up with all those years
ago:
Fred was
perhaps:
1) a terrible liar,
or
2) so distrustful of
others and insecure he had to project a fake "fantastic" image,
or
3) living life so
superficially that every day was, in fact, fantastic
or
4) living life so
deeply that every day was, in fact, fantastic
Whatever the case, I
didn't resonate with this man at all, or with his same fantastic
daily response.
Yesterday, I was
talking to my awesome marketing advisor Krista Carnes of Booking Authors about my website,
and I shared that over the past few months, I've heard people say
this of my website:
1) It's too
professional - it intimidates me
2) You've
accomplished so much, I don't think I'm right for you (as a
client)
3) How I experience
you as a person (warm, compassion, approachable, caring, etc.)
isn't what comes across on your site
I've always been
confused about those impressions because clearly I'm sending out a
vibe that isn't me.
Telling
the Whole Truth
I finally listened!
Krista helped me see what I needed was to tell a bit more of the
truth - about who I am, what I care about, what I've been
through. And in that telling of truth, those who are
meant to connect with me as clients, friends and colleagues, will
resonate with my words and find me.
So I revised
the site again with more of my
personal voice - which is an interesting mix of the professional
but also the very human, flawed and honest. I also
shared my personal story of breakdown and
breakthrough - which I realize
many folks don't know. (And wouldn't you know I heard from three
awesome women this very morning hoping to connect!).
We're
Just Afraid
I work with women
every day in all stages of their careers and businesses who want to
tell the truth but struggle with how to do it, for fear of being
rejected or judged negatively. From corporate execs
needing a powerful resume, to entrepreneurial women crafting
marketing copy for their new programs, to creative folks deciding
if they want to embrace Twitter and get their messages out there -
we all want to tell the truth about who we are and what we
love. We're just afraid.
So let's start
communicating more of the real truth, but do it from a lens of
positivity. Tell the truth in a way that fits that
facts very well but allows room for as much hope, energy, and
compassion as possible.
Make sure you tell
the truth of who you really are - inside and out -- whether you're
networking, speaking, writing, interviewing, or building clients
and businesses. And make sure that your lens focus
isn't set to "negative" to the exclusion of all of the amazing
positivity your truth can reveal.
When you do, your
words and stories will attract what you long for most: the
heart-aligned jobs, opportunities, clients, business, friends,
colleagues who you really want - not a circle of people and
experiences that leave you feeling alone and cold.
SHARE!
I'd LOVE to hear from
you. Please share your comments on my blog -- tell me where
are you not telling the full truth, and can you access the courage
today to tell more of your truth, share more of the real
story? What happens when you do?
Indeed, my friends,
the truth will set you free!
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