This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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How do you balance transparency with professionalism? I like this question. A listener is basically wondering if they're struggling a little bit, if they're feeling overwhelmed or facing some delays, perhaps in their business, how much of that should they share with potential customers or clients? Do you keep it strictly professional? Do you not talk about that at all?
Do you share everything? Well, you probably don't want to overshare, right? I'm sure there's some balance. How do you strike the right balance between openness and maintaining your reputation? Great question.
We've got listeners out there doing all kinds of interesting things. And this is just real life, right? Like these are real issues that we all face in different ways. So let's talk it out. We're gonna hear the detailed question from Josie and then my answer coming up in just 30 seconds.
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Hi, I'm Josie. I run a consultant business that started as a side hustle and I've been loving the creative process and building connections with my customers. However, there are times when I feel completely overwhelmed, especially when unexpected delays or challenges arise. I know people value authenticity, but I'm afraid that sharing too much about my struggles could make me seem unprofessional or unreliable. How do I balance being transparent about the challenges I face without damaging my credibility or losing trust with my audience?
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Josie, I so appreciate this question. I think I can give you some specific advice that will make it pretty simple. Being authentic and honest with your audience can build trust, but oversharing or revealing too much about behind the scenes struggles can actually backfire. So here's how you find that balance. I think you do it by considering your audience's perspective.
And if you start with that, everything else is gonna make sense. Ask yourself, will sharing this information help them understand or connect with me better? Does it demonstrate my commitment to solving their problem or delivering value? Or could it create unnecessary doubt about my reliability? Again, this is the decision tree that will help you figure out what to share or when to share or whether to share anything at all.
Transparency should always serve a purpose, like providing context for a delay or showing the human side of your work. So if you are running late on a product launch, I think it is perfectly fine to say something like, we have hit a minor snag in production, but we're working hard to get everything back on track. Thank you for your patience. That kind of keeps it professional while acknowledging the issue. So if being authentic is part of your brand, showing vulnerability can actually strengthen trust, you just wanna make sure it is paired with solutions or takeaways.
So instead of saying something like, hey, I'm totally overwhelmed and behind schedule, like that's not great. What if you just say, you know, this week has been kind of a learning experience for me. Not everything went as I expected. Here's how I'm making adjustments to better serve you going forward. You notice how we're just kind of keeping the focus on the customer because they are your customers, right?
I think don't forget that. Like it just shows that you are proactive, not reactive, and that you are always working to improve. You are human, you're gonna make some mistakes, but you're gonna try your best to fix them, you know? We're experiencing a slight delay, but I brought on some extra help to make sure your order gets there as soon as possible. We had this thing that came up, we're doing our best here.
Don't be afraid to show that you're human, but also that you're reliable and committed to delivering great work. Some of those boundaries can actually be very helpful for you and your customers. That's my two cents, Josie, wishing you well. Listeners, wishing you well as well. I'm so excited for all that we've done in 3,000 episodes, but as I say, sometimes the best is yet to come.
I have a new book, "Time Anxiety," coming out in just 10 days. Excited to share that with you and go on the road to meet some readers and listeners, of course, and the podcast continues every single day, always completely free. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
