Welcome to One Thing Better. Each week, the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine (that's me) shares one way to achieve a breakthrough at work — and build a career or company you love.
Please forward this email to someone you support.
And if you were forwarded this email, please subscribe here!
You want to build trust quickly.
Maybe you're in a sales meeting, on a first date, or networking at an event. You want someone to think highly of you — because that's what leads to deals, relationships, and opportunities. So you want to present yourself as the perfect fit for them.
But here's what I've learned:
When you present yourself as perfect, people grow skeptical.
But when you admit your limitations, they trust you more.
It's counterintuitive, but so important. Today, I'll show you how it works — starting with how I use this tactic in my own business.
When I stopped trying to be everything
When I first got into keynote speaking, I had this recurring experience:
I sell a specific talk: I help individuals and organizations become more adaptable. But sometimes, event organizers would reach out and ask for something else. They might want someone to talk about corporate culture, or the impact of AI, or many other subjects that I don't specialize in.
And in response, here's what I'd do: I'd try to sell myself anyway.
I'd say I'm a great fit. I'd try to prove how thoughtful I am on those subjects, or how my usual talk could still apply to their needs. And in turn… well, I never heard from them again.
Then I started to take a different approach.
I told them I'm not a fit
"To be honest," I'd say, "I don't have the expertise you're looking for. I know that goes against my own interests, but my top priority is making sure you get the right person for your event — even if it's not me."
When I said that, one of two things would happen:
- The client would thank me for my honesty, then ask me more questions about what I do speak about... and sometimes hire me!
- I'd recommend some other speakers I know, who are better fits than me. Then those speakers would get hired, which created a lot of goodwill in my network — and the client, who was grateful, would often come back next year and hire me.
This worked so well that I went even further: Now, whenever I genuinely am a fit for an event, I still point out some way that I am not a fit.
For example, I was recently hired to speak for a credit union association. So I told the organizers: "I just want to be upfront — I don't know much about credit unions, so I won't be the most fluent on that subject."
And in turn, they'd say something like: "That's actually perfect, because we want someone with fresh eyes — so we love that you're an outsider!"
Why honesty creates trust
It's an interesting phenomenon, isn't it? When I tried to be what people wanted, they didn't hire me. But when I was upfront about my limitations, they did hire me.
I wondered: Does this happen in other areas of life?
Then I thought about restaurants. Have you ever asked a waiter for their opinions about the food?
Sometimes they say, "Everything on the menu is amazing." And that makes their opinion feel worthless. In fact, it makes me wonder if the menu is good at all.
Other times, they'll say "That dish isn't so great — so I'd really recommend this dish instead." That person immediately becomes trustworthy!
Why? Because if they're willing to tell me what's not good, then I'm more trusting when they say what is good. Their honesty about limitations makes their recommendations more credible.
The simple framework that changes everything
So what's going on here?
I believe it's this: People don't prioritize perfect fits. They prioritize trust.
If they're hiring someone, or considering dating someone, or even ordering food from someone, they primarily want a person who will be straight with them. That is more important than almost any other qualification. Or at least, it's the deciding factor between a yes or a no.
When you're upfront about what you can't do, you accomplish several things at once:
You show an understanding of their needs. You demonstrate that you care more about their success than your own immediate gain. And most importantly, you separate yourself from everyone else who's trying to sell themselves.
The courage to be honest
Will you lose some opportunities by being honest? Yes.
But let's be real: Those opportunities wouldn't have worked out well anyway. And the trust you build by being upfront leads to better opportunities — ones where you can actually deliver exceptional value.
So the next time you're trying to build trust with someone new, resist the urge to be their perfect solution. Instead, be honest about where you excel and where you don't. Show them that you care more about getting them what they need than getting what you want.
When you do that, you don't just build trust. You become the person they want to trust with everything.
That's how to do one thing better.
The easiest bookkeeping I've ever found
I hate bookkeeping.
For years I let transactions pile up, panic-categorized before taxes, and paid my accountant extra to clean up the mess.
Then I tried Kick.
Simple setup. Transactions are categorized automatically. Real accountants review everything. When my CPA asks for my books, they're clean. First try.
Honestly, this saved me at least 20 hours last year.
If you run a business, freelance, or do contract work, Kick has a wild tax-season offer: Sign up before March 1st and they'll do all your 2025 bookkeeping for free, plus 25% off 2026 — a deal worth over $2,000.
Use code JASON25 here.
I don't usually promote tools, but this one genuinely fixed a problem I'd been avoiding for years. If you've been putting off your bookkeeping, this is your excuse to finally deal with it.
Final notes for today...
P.S. How to find your product-market fit: I had a great conversation with the cofounder of Allbirds. Listen!
P.P.S. Send this newsletter to someone who needs it! Forward to them, or just send this link to today's edition.
P.P.S. Want my help in a 1:1 call? I'm on Intro, where people book my time for quick consulting calls. Let's talk!
That's all for this week! See you next Tuesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment