Launch with Courage, Not Just Certainty (#279)
The Confident Leader
BOOST YOUR LEADERSHIP IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
You’ve done your research.
You’ve polished the new product or service.
You’re proud of what you’ve created.
But you’re hesitant to launch. You doubt it’s ready. Could it need more tweaking?
Sound familiar…?
I can tell you why.
“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
—Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn Co-founder
This Week’s Edition
WA new product or service is more than just a deliverable. It’s a reflection of you and your leadership in the effort.
Fear of failure or criticism often delays launching a product that can give us the crucial information needed for growth.
External feedback significantly improved the quality of final outputs, even in competitive environments.
Clarify Your Thinking
Putting your work out there is like putting yourself out there. It’s vulnerable to share something new, exposing it to criticism, especially when you’re unsure how it will be received.
The leader’s inner dialogue is filled with tension:
“I need to perfect the product. If it’s not perfect, I’ll get false critical feedback. Continuing to tweak seems wise and secure. We justify it as striving for excellence.”
In reality, we tend to avoid criticism and prefer control.
The flaw in that is it restricts outside insight and the chance to improve.
The truth is that our perception of our products, no matter how refined, has blind spots.
We can fix that by inviting outside perspectives. Asking for that kind of input isn’t weakness; it’s strategic.
The question is: are you brave enough to move beyond your old thoughts to hear what needs to be said?
Old Thinking:
If I expose this too early, people will pick it apart. I need to wait until it’s perfect.
New Thinking:
I don’t need perfect. I need perspective. Insight from others will help me shape something stronger than I could create alone.
Thoughts Lead to Actions
One founder I coached launched a new offering and immediately received a barrage of tough feedback: “This is good, but it’s trying to do too much.”
Initially, he was defensive. But within a week, he had accepted the feedback and simplified the product to its core, helping it gain traction more quickly.
The takeaway? Feedback didn’t kill the idea. It refined it and accelerated its adoption.
Fear can serve as a vault for your best ideas, while feedback releases it and fuels improvement.
Here’s how to present your idea, service, or product confidently and clearly:
➤ Pre-Launch with Purpose
Test your product with a trusted group before launch. Gather pre-launch feedback:
- What do you like?
- What do you not like?
- What’s missing?
➤ Release Your Ideal Outcome
Let go of the perfect version. Recognize you are launching v.1. Products thrive with market response.
➤ Crowd Source Refinement
Let your audience be your source for improving your product. Observe how they use it. Support the value they see in it, even if that was different than your original intent.
Change your perspective: you’re not launching a product; you’re guiding a learning cycle.
Launching a product is pass or fail. Leading a learning cycle is iterative and builds your confidence.
And the leaders who grow the most are those willing to listen to what they haven’t yet seen.
Boost Your Performance
In this week’s video, I’ll walk through the launch journey of a founder who feared getting it wrong until he let go and launched.
What’s Your Opinion?
What’s one moment where someone’s outside perspective completely changed your thinking?
Share it with me: robin.pou@robinpou.com
If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!
Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist
We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders.
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What is “The Confident Leader”?
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.
