Christopher V. Flett

It is common to feel like fraud when you are stretching into bigger things in business. The Alpha Male gets into games much bigger than he has experience with and ‘stretches’ to earn his space. Women on the other hand wait until they have everything in place and then go for the opportunity. Unfortunately the opportunity is gone to an Alpha who has already claimed it.

I have clients who are targeting big accounts and they say to me, “How the hell am I going to handle all this business? I don’t have a big enough team, the right contractors, or even a business model that can support this right now.” They start thinking about all the reasons why they can’t service an account before they even get the work. Alphas have a little saying (which I share with clients in this state), “Money buys solutions“. When you get the contract, you’ll have the money to acquire the assets required to do the work. It’s a bit chicken and egg, but it works.

I have spent much of my professional life having people ask me if I can do something. My response is almost always, “YES“.

“Chris can you put a team in the UK?” - YES.

“Chris can you do a community profile for the City of Kelowna in three weeks?” - YES

“Chris we need 60 consultants in the field by the end of the month. Can you do that?” – YES

I’ve always found that figuring out how to do something once you get the work is much easier than learning how to do the work before you have it. At times you can feel like a fraud, but if you know that you can figure things out quickly and will have the resources (through the work) to hire experts, well, what’s the challenge? I think being successful and stretching yourself is good for you and humbling.

When I was on the Today Show, I thought to myself, “What the hell am I doing on this show. I’m not a great writer, a decade ago I was a bouncer. Shouldn’t this show be for big names like James Patterson or Malcolm Gladwell?” Then the Alpha kicked in. Why NOT me? Why shouldn’t I be on this show. I have something unique to say and with a unique way of saying it. I’m going to shake up this show and its viewers. That’s what I did.

The only person that thinks you are a fraud is you. If you can deliver, you aren’t a fraud. If you lie about delivering and then duff the ball when you are under the gun…well you are a fraud. Find advisers, experts, and those with experience to support you as you stretch. It will make things easier, give you a safety net, and remind you that things aren’t as hard as you make them out to be.

Every successful person you ever meet will think themselves a fraud on some level. It’s just part of the game.