u003cpu003eu003ca href=u0022https://pcaaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pexels-fox-1071249-1-scaled.jpgu0022u003eu003cimg class=u0022alignnone size-medium wp-image-10035u0022 src=u0022https://pcaaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pexels-fox-1071249-1.jpgu0022 alt=u0022u0022 width=u0022300u0022 height=u0022173u0022 /u003e u003c/au003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu0026nbsp;u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eBy Claire Louge, July 31, 2020u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eEarly in my career, I subscribed to the ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ mindset. I thought that in order to prove my professional worth, I had to demonstrate perpetual competence. If I l didn't possess a skill, I needed to feign it until I actually figured it out. If I didn’t know what someone was talking about at a meeting, I had to sit there and nod, pretending that I did. I thought knowledgeability was what earned respect, and I didn’t want to be perceived as lacking it.u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eI know better now. u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eSeven months ago, I was promoted to executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Arizona. There has been so much to learn. Some things I knew I needed to learn (like nonprofit finance processes), but some things I didn’t know I didn’t know, and I needed to learn those things too (leading an organization through a pandemic).u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eThrough my time in this role so far, I’ve committed to being transparent with what I don’t know, and open with my learning process. If someone says an acronym I don’t recognize, I ask them to define it. If a person assumes I know something and is having a conversation with me about it, it’s unfair to them, and unproductive for us both, for me to fake understanding. I ask them to teach me.u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eIt’s helped me learn a lot. u003cemu003eNotu003c/emu003e faking it is helping me ‘make it.’u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eKeep in mind, u003cemu003ehowu003c/emu003e you ask for more information is key. Have you have ever started a sentence with, ‘Sorry if this is a stupid question, but…?’ Don’t apologize for asking a ‘stupid question.’ u003cstrongu003eWhat we tend to consider ‘stupid questions’ are often the most foundational, and if we aren’t clearly building on the same foundation, we can’t build anything stable together. u003c/strongu003eIn my experience, when I ask ‘stupid questions,’ others often thank me for asking, because they were wondering, too.u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eThe transparency of others has also been a gift to me. Throughout this pandemic, I’ve been especially grateful for the candor of my colleagues and other leaders. They’ve been sharing the kinds of emotions they’re experiencing – their doubts, fears, and hopes – and how they are navigating hard decisions like assessing risk related to Covid-19, and speaking up or standing back on political issues.u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eIt is liberating to me to hear their humanity. It makes me feel connected, and u003cstrongu003ethere’s nothing more life-affirming than feeling connected.u003c/strongu003e If they had chosen to fake total confidence or certainty, that connection wouldn’t be there.u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eWhen you have the courage to be transparent, you’re permitting others to be transparent, too. You never know who you might liberate. Transparency is leadership. It may be challenging to be transparent about hard things, but it’s the hardest issues that need the most transparency to transform.u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eTransparency is just pointing out what’s real, and when we’re trying to build something important, like a better Arizona for our children, we need to start with what’s real.u003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu0026nbsp;u003c/pu003e
