Who am I?
By: Earle G. Airey III
I was sitting with a group of members from a local organizational development networking group and one made an interesting comment. "Sometimes I feel like who am I to give advice in the face of experts to have been doing this for years." At a later date I shared with him that I had a similar thought some years ago. I not long after came to the conclusion, "who am I not to give advice despite being in the face of extensive experience." Extensive experience does not mean superior experience.
This young man's opinion, knowledge, and wisdom is just as good and valid as anyone else until proven otherwise. He seemed to be fearful of expressing his experience in areas where others have more experience. Fear is the largest element of failure we can encounter. Fear is practicing failure in advance. There is no place for it in our lives. Caution...sure. Doubt...of course. Intimidation...possibly. Even being frightened is okay because it is temporary, but fear...never. Even Franklin D. Roosevelt commented that "only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
So don't let fear keep you from holding back your contribution even in the face of extensive experience. I know people who have been talking intelligently their whole life, but their subject is full of holes! I would suggest that if you have something to contribute that one could consider it to be the duty of that person to share with others. In college I've made professors go "hummm" to contributions I made and I don't think I did anything extraordinary other than take the courage to speak up. I shed my fear and took a chance on being wrong. If nothing else, I learned a new way that didn't work. Learning (like life) is a journey, not a destination. I'm in it for the long haul.
So if you ever have fears about whether your expertise is worthy of expressing or sharing with others the answer is a resounding YES! If your mind is open and intentions pure then if those around are truly "intellectually enlightened," they will appreciate your efforts.
Remember, you are <insert your name here>!
If you has challenges similar to this please share on how you overcame them.
