Sometimes, sharing your thought leadership feels wrong...
Sometimes, sharing your thought leadership feels wrong...
...because you don't feel right...
but, resist the urge to hold back — your tribe needs you to share your thought leadership!
I heard the above statement from my Positive Psychology instructor during an on-site class, and it has deeply resonated with me since.
I work with a lot of thought leadership clients who feel less than and question their motives for serving others because they feel they aren’t qualified to help.
The main reason?
They feel like imposters because they haven’t fully worked out the major challenges in their lives, so they feel fraudulent when trying to help others figure out theirs.
This sentiment is completely understandable - I’ve been there.
For many years, I was unable to comprehend the meaning behind this statement.
I was of the opinion that “hey, if you don’t have your shit together, how the hell are you expecting me to go along with what you’re saying?”
I was too self-absorbed with my own wounds, which revolved around issues stemming from being overweight, projecting a poor self-image, and having no purpose guiding the decisions I made in my life.
Consequently, I never allowed myself the space to heal anyone else, let alone myself. Therefore, I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of anyone else being able to serve the needs of others in that state of mind.
But fortunately, education and mindset shifts are possible at any age, and I now have a completely different perspective on the topic.
Although you may feel less than, your internal trauma does not null and void your thought leadership expertise. And, it certainly doesn’t eliminate those who need to hear your thought leadership most.
Those folks don’t need a superhero in their lives - they need a solution to get themselves unstuck, and don’t care what the delivery method of their relief looks like.
I’ve found that one of the best ways to get over my own head garbage is to put my energy into others, and that helps alleviate a lot of my anxiety - doesn’t resolve the challenge, but, the energy I was allotting to worrying is now spent in a more worthwhile place.
And that’s the first step, :)
How do you feel about this statement? Have you felt like an imposter in the past and that curtailed you from further developing your expertise?
Please share your story in the comments section.
PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you...because I care, :)