Authentic and vulnerable go hand-in-hand. Being both authentic and, therefore, vulnerable is essential if we really want to connect with people. For most of us that connection is an essential part of living our calling. But putting ourselves out there can bear a cost.
Naturally, exposing ourselves leaves us open to criticism. John and I received a sharp criticism a few weeks ago. I had already heard from Seth Godin that getting negative attention is good because if your stuff was really bad people would just ignore it and say nothing. Somehow, that didn’t make me feel better.
There is a guy who unsubscribed from our blog/email list. In the comments section of the unsubscribe form, he wrote:
Looks like a lot of hype, personal ego boosting. typical of signing up for a paid program which the facilitator uses their warped and fabricated tales to create a false sense of security to promote their ego needs.
Ouch.
John simply replied:
“We’re sorry to see you go, but we understand if our type of service isn’t for you.”
I was grateful John took care of that. I don’t think I would’ve handled it so well. I was pretty mad.
First, I was baffled about the pay program thing. Then John reminded me it was probably regarding our book study group. But what really got me was the part about “warped and fabricated tales” and “promote their ego needs.”
I was thinking which stories are warped and fabricated and could possibly serve to promote my ego needs. Would that be the trip to the emergency room in July when John had his heart attack? Or how we struggle with our teen spending too much time on the online gaming? Or how I was feeling sad for having lost enough vision to really benefit from the help of a guide dog?
We made a decision years before we started Simply Great Lives, when we first started Steam Engine Financial Coaching. We decided we would not have a company “image,” but a company identity instead. That identity is me and John, who we are and what we are all about.
Sharing ourselves and being both authentic and vulnerable is central to how we do our business. For us, it is essential in really connecting with people and in helping change lives. The size and quality of our impact is great enough to make the occasional slam worthwhile.
Maybe you’ve been concerned that if you put your self out there, you might get slammed. Yes, that could happen. But it’s okay. Not everybody will understand you, your intentions or your desired impact. We believe that having the opportunity to deeply change peoples’ lives is worth that cost.
How about you? Are you willing to take some risks in putting yourself out there in order to touch lives?
