Latest / Thursday Think Bites / Episode 25 - The Ugly Baby problem
Transcript
- Prashanthi Nuthi: Hello friends, today I want to talk to you about something every leader, founder, creator and honestly every human being struggles with. The ugly baby problem. And yes, it's a real thing. Recently I was on a phone call with one of my friends that I hadn't spoken to over 10 years. As soon as we started talking, she said, have you seen yourself in those videos? Not exactly the reunion I was expecting for. Then she continued, the lighting is bad, the editing is bad, you're not dressed up to pass on such a powerful message. My sudden reaction was defense. I explained to her, that's the format, unpolished, real, conversational. But she didn't accept. She said, I understand the intent, but you cannot still forget the basics. It hit me hard because she was not the first one to say this. My mom said this a couple of years back. My husband said it. My neighbor said it. But I kept on ignoring. But when I heard the same feedback from a person who had no agenda, became impossible to ignore anymore. ⁓ keep telling ourselves, ⁓ it's my parents talking, it's my spouse talking, ⁓ they don't understand my vision. ⁓ But ⁓ fall so deeply in love with what they have built, they stop looking at it objectively. And it happens with leaders constantly. We defend our processes, products, culture, ways of working, communication styles, not because they're efficient, but because they're ours. And somewhere along the way, I confused authenticity with lack of effort. Raw doesn't automatically mean real. It can be authentic and you can still enhance the experience. It could be real and you can still improve the presentation. that applies to this content and to leadership. Because your intention is not the same as someone else's experience. that distinction matters more than the leaders think. After couple of hours, the friend called me back again and said, hey, I watched more videos and now I understand your intent. when ⁓ I realized one more people judge the book based on cover. ⁓ you don't like the cover, you don't read the book. So the format was intentional, ⁓ but presentation still needed work. ⁓ So the microboost for you today. ⁓ Think one feedback you have heard ⁓ multiple from different sources, different people, different moments. ⁓ Ask honestly, ⁓ are rejecting the feedback or are you rejecting the source? ⁓ Remember small actions big impact until we meet again next time. Let's keep making impact together. Thank you guys.