Truth Telling in Business with Sabrina Horn
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“Fake it, till you make it” seems to be a piece of advice that has stood the test of time. The specific language around it might change slightly, but the essence of it seems to be synonymous with what a lot of people teach when it comes to success.
I think we often think of someone like Anna Delvey when the idea of faking it until we make it comes to mind. For those who haven’t seen Netflix’s show “Inventing Anna”, Anna Delvey is a Russian-born woman who pretended to be a wealthy German heiress and defrauded a number of people and institutions in New York over the course of a few years. She was able to convince financial institutions, the wealthy elite, and any number of other people that she was something she wasn’t — and, subsequently, conned them out of a significant amount of money (amongst other things).
Anna Delvey is an example of someone who faked it so well and so long that she really almost made it. If it hadn’t been for a friend she had defrauded, she may have actually made it in the end. However, like many people who fake it, along the way her story started to unfold, and holes were poked in the narrative she had assembled. And, ultimately, she didn’t have anything of substance to hold up the claims that she made.
A lesson, albeit an extreme one, on why faking it til you make it, is not the best advice.
In practice, a lot of us “fake it til we make it” in a very different way. When we are asked to take something on, we step up, step in, and say that we can absolutely do the thing that is asked of us, even if we don’t know for sure that we can because we haven’t done it before. However, we usually do this in instances where we are certain that we have enough of the skillset required and the ability to sort out the rest. Despite the fact that how we usually fake it in real life isn’t as extreme as the Anna Delvey example, we almost always think of that sort of example first.
The biggest difference between the two examples is the intention behind the fakery. In the case of Anna Delvey, she was intentionally deceiving people about the reality of the situation. Whereas, in the other example, there is an element of risk combined with the confidence that the foundation in place is enough to accomplish what needs to be done.
Sabrina Horn and I talk extensively about authenticity and faking it on the podcast this week. She points out one of the finer points that faking it is NOT the same as being honest but still believing you can do something. One version of faking it can be authentic, one cannot.
Sabrina’s book “Make it, Don’t Fake it: Leading with Authenticity for Real Business Success” actually includes a fake-o-meter to help find clarity when it comes to what’s real and what’s fake as leaders in today’s business world.
Sabrina spent over 25 years in the world of PR and is an expert on many things, especially the importance of authenticity and telling the truth for leaders. Our conversation covered a lot of topics including: the dangers of cancel culture, the importance of values, the different ways we might be faking it, and why getting to the truth is imperative.
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To learn more about Sabrina Horn, visit www.sabrinahorn.com. You can also find her on all social platforms by searching her name (@sabrinahorn).
Her book, "Make It, Don't Fake It: Leading with Authenticity for Real Business Success" can be found at all major booksellers (with samples and accompaniments on her site).