Let Me Show You Something

One of the things I’ve been working on the last couple of years is letting go of this overly-apologetic coaching style I developed somewhere along the way.

I can trace this to two things:
1. An unnecessary overcorrection of my natural, incredibly direct style.
2. An insecurity that what I’m bringing to the table might not be the best idea.

Feeling compelled to soften the feedback blow by being apologetic with our asks betrays us.

It reinforces the idea that feedback is a punishment for doing something wrong and not the opportunity for growth that it is, and it erases the chance for us to share our passion with others.

Approaching someone with your head down, wearing a frown, and leading with “I’m sorry, I know this is annoying and totally extra but…” isn’t the way to inspire.

Holding your head high with a confident smile, and leading with “Let me show you something.” is a better strategy.

I see these same apologetic disclaimers pop up in creative work as well.

"If I had more time it would have been better."
"It’s my first try so..."
"I wish it looked like..."
"It’s not as fancy as..."
"We don’t have a ton of investors so..."
"It didn’t come out exactly how I wanted."

Telling us how your work has fallen short of your expectations isn’t helping us connect more deeply with it. It doesn’t make your work more compelling or help us feel sympathy for your creative challenges.

We don’t need your work to be perfect. We need it to be inspired and have a point of view.

We need it to change us in some way—to take us somewhere we didn't even know we could go and that’s unlikely to happen if our delivery is self-sabotaging.

As a creator, you’ll still see the flaws, learn from your experience, and know that next time will be better—but this is where you are right now, and it pays to own it.

Create something and share it with no excuses. Because if you don’t back your work, who will?