Fake It Till You Make It

You’ve heard me and many others say this a thousand times. But what does it mean?

Basically, faking it leads to making it through a simple principle based on positive thinking. For business owners, you can apply this when you decide on a new direction for your business, client type, or service offering. Even though you haven’t done this particular thing before and don’t have testimonials to back up your new idea—you do it anyway.

You map out the strategy to get there, you spread the word and declare “This is what I do.” Then, you proceed to do just that. The “fake it” is that you come across more confident than you may actually be. The “make it” comes when you finally do have the confidence and experience to call yourself a pro.

From initial idea to proof-of-concept to the first sale—trust me, we are all faking it simply because we may be the only one who believes in our product or service. 

For example, we use the term “we” even though it may be a one-woman show. We use phrases like “when we work with large organizations” even though we haven’t done that yet. We declare the benefits of working with us even though we haven’t picked up our first client yet.

Who else fakes it?

An actor who hasn’t yet been paid to act is doing it.

A new bricks-and-mortar store that opens its doors for the first time is doing it.

The woman who just started her Virtual Assistant business even though she has not owned a business before is doing it.

Basically, every start-up does it.

Business owners fake it until they get to the point where they are doing it successfully. Then they aren’t faking it anymore. If your business is new, faking it can be part of your growth strategy.

Ann Cuddy does a great job of describing this concept in her TED Talk presentation.

What Fake It Till You Make It is Not

It’s not about creating a fake resume, lying through your teeth, betraying people or using whatever means available to make yourself appear to be something you are not. 

For example, a former colleague of mine showcases on his LinkedIn profile responsibilities and tasks that he never did and he falsely claims he reported to a high-level manager. How do I know it’s not true? Because he reported to me. That is lying and cheating. And that is never okay.

At what point in your career did you feel that you were faking it? Please share!

#growtharchitect #growtharchitecture #beatechelette #entrepreneur #founder #training #learning #passion #speaker #growbuildscale #growthtips #readytogrow

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At her lowest point, Beate Chelette was $135,000 in debt, a single mother, and forced to leave her home. Only 18 months later, she sold her image licensing business to Bill Gates in a multimillion dollar deal. Chelette is a nationally known ‘gender decoder’ who has appeared in over 60 radio shows. She is a respected speaker, business and career coach and a consummate creative entrepreneur who continues to be an advocate and business builder for her entrepreneurial clients. 

Passionate about women’s issues Beate founded The Women’s Code, a unique guide to women leadership and personal and career success that offers a new code of conduct for today’s business, private, and digital worlds. Determined to build a community of women supporting each other, she took her life-changing formula documented it all in her book Happy Woman Happy World that Brian Tracy calls “an amazing handbook for every woman who wants health, happiness, love and success!”

Through her corporate initiative “Why Acting Like a Girl Is Good For Business” she helps companies with gender diversification training, and to develop and retain women.

If you’d like to book Beate as a speaker on The Women’s Code: Tools for a New Leadership Balance or Creative Entrepreneurship for your next event please connect with me to find out about our programs.