I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career. Some small, some expensive, some that still make me cringe a little when I think about them. But here’s the thing, I’ve learned way more from those missteps than I ever did when things were smooth sailing. And now, I get to share those lessons with companies and teams across the country.
Here’s what I’ve learned along the way: sometimes your team needs to hear something from someone who isn’t you. That’s not a knock on leadership, it’s human nature. We all get used to our own rhythms, our own routines, our own way of communicating. An outside voice can cut through the noise. Not because it’s louder but because it’s different.
When someone from the outside shares a hard-earned lesson, it often creates a ripple effect. People reflect differently. They ask new questions. They consider ideas they may have dismissed before. It’s not that they didn’t want to grow, it’s just that sometimes it takes a new lens to see an old problem more clearly.
Bringing in an outside perspective also tells your team something important: that you care enough to invest in their development and that you don’t have all the answers—and that’s okay. In fact, some of the most impactful moments I’ve seen happen after someone on a team says, “I’ve never thought about it that way before.”
And it doesn’t have to be flashy. Sometimes it’s just someone standing in front of your people, saying, “Here’s where I got it wrong and here’s what I learned from it.”
We all learn from experience. But we don’t always have to learn the hard way. When we share lessons, especially the messy ones, we make the path a little clearer for the next person. That’s why outside voices matter.