Dear Friend, To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful." -Edward R. Murrow We all know when we are met with insincere words, actions, or gestures. We see right through the fake-ness! We know what isn't sincere, but what really is it to be sincere? Benjamin Franklin suggests that sincerity is to have our thoughts, words, and actions be pure, innocent, and just. I believe that being sincere isn't simply being nice and kind, but also about being in integrity and speaking our truth. A friend and her husband were looking forward to going to an upcoming wedding alone - for them it was a "date night" since the proceeding weeks had been extremely busy. Her girlfriend called and asked if she could tag along. The dilemma: to respond begrudgingly with a yes and resent the evening or to respond authentically and say normally yes, but tonight we need to spend some one-on-one time together so regrettably, no? My friend's response was that unfortunately it just wasn't going to work this weekend. As I heard the story I jumped for joy - she said no when she thought and felt compelled to do so! She did this in a direct, sincere, and honest way. How often do we want to say no, think we should say yes, feel badly about the situation and end up saying - well, okay? Then after we've said yes we end up being rather resentful and annoyed at the other person when in fact we were the one who was insincere and fake. We feel badly saying no, but here is the catch - saying yes when we want to say no - isn't very sincere, is it? Take Action Challenge This week think about how you can be sincere in all of your communications - even if it means having a difficult conversation. If it is difficult for you to say no, instead say, "I need some time to think about this" or "Right now, this just isn't going to work for me, but thanks for asking." Find the phrase that allows you to be authentic and true to others and to yourself. May you have success in your journey. Blessings to you, Margaret. P.S. Encourage your friends, family, and colleagues by sharing this newsletter with them and invite them to subscribe! Direct them to www.MargaretPundmann.com where they can sign up. Margaret Pundmann is a life and business coach, speaker, and author of numerous articles on living your most powerful life. Stay tuned, Margaret's first book for emerging women will be available for pre-order in the coming weeks.
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- Margaret Pundmann Fortner
- United States
- A native St. Louisan, Margaret returned to St. Louis, after nearly a decade on the east coast and some time in Hong Kong. She is a graduate of Bucknell University with an economics degree and a minor in political science. Margaret's career began as an investment analyst. Most recently, she worked with financial advisors and planners to grow their business. In 2007, she was responsible for over 200 million in new dollars and managed a territory with assets over 2 billion dollars. What Margaret loved about her sales role was devising strategies to help clients grow personally and professionally. Capitalizing on her desire to collaborate with people to design and achieve specific measurable results, she enrolled in the nationally recognized coaching program. Margaret's coaching business was born of a deep passion to partner with individuals to create wildly successful lives and businesses. Through the coaching relationship clients achieve more efficient and effective results while building upon their own core values and foundation.
