#LeadershipTuesdays: Be Okay With Not Knowing...Jessica Alba

"I needed people telling me no. I needed people to not get it and to look at me cross-eyed for me to really figure out exactly what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. It's something that I had to learn as a woman in business... a) Ask for help and to not be afraid of criticism; b) And when you don't know what to do, to be okay with not knowing but learning. You just have to figure it out!"

Jessica Alba, Co-Founder--The Honest Co.; award-winning and Golden Globe nominated Actress

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. So many times when women are faced with a new job opportunity, a promotion or even the opportunity to become a part of a new venture, they feel anxiety and deselect themselves because they don't have all of the skills they believe are required for said position or opportunity. Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook, mentioned this in her book "Lean In" saying,

“In addition to the external barriers erected by society, women are hindered by barriers that exist within ourselves. We hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in."

Whether you refer to this phenomenon as the imposter syndrome or the confidence gap, almost every woman, and some minorities too, has had to confront these feelings. Those feelings are really feelings of fear.

In today's Leadership Tuesdays' feature, Jessica Alba, who spoke at a 2015 Forbes Women's Summit and was featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine in June 2015, speaks about not only confronting her own inner feelings about "not knowing" everything that may she feel is required to make a good business decision, but also the added pressure of being negatively stereotyped because of her looks, current profession or the fact that she is a female. Jessica encourages us to be okay with the dissonance that comes from not having all of the answers at the moment of decision. We need to give more credit and feel more comfortable with our "women's intuition". That is the inner "knowing" or feeling that guides us when we don't have all of the answers or information. "Be okay with not knowing...", she says. Instead take the position that 'I am smart and what ever I don't know right now, I can learn'. 

Yes, we are smart and we are capable of doing great things if we work hard,  totally believe in ourselves, recognize the nay-saying voice of fear within us and ignore the chorus of people who don't believe in us, 'just because'.

To see today's brief video featuring Jessica Alba, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here.  

--Nona O., womenatliberty.com