Did you know that by admitting your flaws, you actually open yourself up to more opportunities? Who would’ve thought? Why exactly is that? In this video, I share fascinating research with you.
In the mid 1980s, researchers at Columbia State University conducted a study where they created resumes for two fictitious characters – David and John. David and John were what you would call ideal candidates.
Here’s the interesting thing – Their two resumes were essentially the same. They had identical education, qualifications, skills, experience and even letters of references but differed only in one minor point.
In John’s letter, it included this simple statement – “Sometimes, John can be difficult to get along with”.
They then presented these two candidates to a number of personnel directors across multiple companies.
Now, which candidate do you think was overwhelmingly preferred? It may surprise you to know that the preferred candidate was actually John – the same dude that can be difficult to get along with.
What did the researchers conclude? That by including that flaw in the letter, it made the good stuff more believable.
When you and I put stuff out there, it’s easy to focus on everything we do well, because that sounds good and we like sounding good. But I’ve found that if we only share the good stuff, we not only don’t show the full picture, but we are no longer relatable or even believable.
Think about it – we all have our issues, and when we see someone living the “perfect life”, we’re skeptical because it can’t be true.
My take home message is this – don’t be afraid to admit your mistakes and your flaws. Now, don’t be stupid and admit too much. You gotta be smart about it.
But if you’re putting yourself out there with the hopes of building something, give a well rounded, realistic perspective of who you are.