You'd find it hard to believe, but these 𝟰 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 helped me become a better entrepreneur

 ”𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁.” 

My first few months of starting Target Publications were about,  

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀? “I don’t know.”

 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺? “I don’t know.” 

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹? “I don’t know.” 

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲? “I don’t know.” 

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀? “I don’t know.”

Then, what did I know? I knew that “𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁.”

Nowadays, leaders are expected to have all the answers, to be the ‘𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺’, the ones with ‘𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.’

But honestly, we are leading for the first time, too, right? Then how are we supposed to be different and better than our team, so that they actually look up to us?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀... 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁.

The truth is, that leadership isn’t about knowing everything. It’s about knowing how 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗶𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀—even when you 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀.

It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy not knowing all the answers, feeling lost at times, feeling vulnerable, not being able to find a mentor, and so much more.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝟭𝟴 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿.... 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝗮𝗺. Better, more informed, and wiser. 𝗜𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝟮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀.

Many leaders fear that saying “I don’t know” will make them look weak. In reality, it does the opposite.

So, the next time you feel pressure to have all the answers, remind yourself of something Ken Blanchard said, “Leadership is not about knowing all the answers but about asking the right questions and being open to finding the answers.”

I’ll share more about this in future posts, but for now I’d love to hear how you pushed through your early struggles.