Frankly Vulnerability IS Required

Another major experience every entrepreneur must face is vulnerability, but then when I looked that up, (the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally) I put on the brakes, What? No! that is not what we are doing here. So I searched the old thesaurus to find the ‘right’ word. Really it didn’t take but a moment…and that word is, drum roll please… FRANK.

Yep your old friend from 10th grade, or for me it was my brothers friend from 10th grade who was a total stoner, strange how this simple word can conjure up a smattering of memories. Who is the Frank you see? ?

So Frank, yeah, (open, honest, and direct in speech or writing, especially when dealing with unpalatable matters) if I said Boom! I might sound dorky, but by gum, this is verbatim, what we need to do. What is that you say? Unpalatable doesn’t really work for you?? Well the reality and as Col. Nathan Jessup shouted in the courtroom, “You can’t handle the truth!” the 'truth' is unpalatable for most. However as an entrepreneur you have no choice but to speak to your truth and the truth you present. Of course there is salesmanship, but what you are getting at is, ‘look I need your capital, aka money, and support’ How you, as an entrepreneur get there is your choice, but the undeniable truth is that you need them and you have to be Frank to get their attention and hopefully their investment.? No if’s, and’s or but’s, of course you can try to be coy or diplomatic, but if you are not direct and yes Frank, this may take a lot longer, as in never, if you don’t expose yourself, your want and your need. ?

Now that I got that out of the way, I have to thank my friend Lindsay for leading me there, he is a business coach (I am happy to refer him, should anyone be in need of a coach) earning his next level certification, I volunteered to be his student for an exercise. Prior to our session I had a mass mailing that was half finished, which was quite ‘frank’ in its approach. I struggled with the right wording and design, so with a little boost from our chat, I dove back in, threw caution to the wind and hit send. And that is when I felt the ping of exposing myself. Of course that conversation played out in my head, so I was OK with it, but was the universe OK with ‘the truth’, my frankness? The universe being the several hundred people I reached out to. It left me feeling uneasy, which was as annoying as ‘F’, the other F not frank, since I was owning this frankness. Then today, less than 24 hours after the email blast I received an encouraging email from one recipient simply stating: “You’re awesome".? No more needed to be said, just that one, err 2 words were enough to say, you did good, your frankness has been seen and come what may you did the right thing.?

Lastly, and this feels like an afterthought, but it is more of a stream of conscious-by-the-way.? This same approach of frankness should be taken into account for direct asks. I grapple with that and with potential investors I know personally, those I don’t want to alienate. So for me, I am choosing to reach out to those I can take that risk as a rehearsal while I go through the old rolodex.