Overcoming Fear in Consulting: Lessons from Getting Naked

What’s the problem: Fear holds professionals back from meaningful progress, whether in consulting, leadership, or product development. The fear of losing business, feeling inferior, and being embarrassed leads to surface-level conversations and missed opportunities.

Key Takeaways:

  • Telling the kind truth—sooner rather than later—drives better business outcomes.
  • Overcoming fear of asking questions in business meetings leads to clearer thinking and better decisions.
  • Lifting our clients up as the heroes means shifting from the goal of being all-knowing to embracing a mindset of continuous learning and genuine partnership.

🎧 Listen to the Humans First episode to hear the whole conversation.

How Fear of Failure Limits Business Growth and Collaboration

As described in Patrick Lencioni’s book, Getting Naked, consultants, business leaders, and product teams often struggle with three major fears:

  • Fear of losing business
  • Fear of being embarrassed
  • Fear of feeling inferior

These fears lead to cautious, surface-level conversations that hinder progress. But what if the key to success was embracing radical transparency instead?

The “Getting Naked” Principle: Embracing Vulnerability for Business Success

In this Humans First podcast episode, hosts Kayla Byington, Andy Van Fleet, and Kurt Vander Wiel discuss how Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni changed their approach to overcoming fear in business. The book discusses the benefits of honest communication in consulting by contrasts two consulting models: one driven by authenticity and openness, the other by corporate posturing. The difference? True success comes from putting vulnerability first.

Listen: Why Trust Matters for Your Organization

Actionable Lessons for Overcoming Fear in Consulting and Leadership

1. Tell the “Kind Truth”

Too often, businesses delay difficult conversations to avoid conflict. But telling the kind truth, even when it’s hard, is what moves businesses forward. Avoiding it just delays the inevitable. And telling the truth kindly means delivering honest feedback with empathy and a genuine desire to help our clients succeed. We once had to tell a client their business model was off-course—we shared in order to help them succeed.

The fear of losing the business makes this kind of radical candor risky, but it can build trust and ultimately lead to more successful outcomes.

2. Ask “Dumb” Questions

The thought of asking a seemingly obvious question or admitting a mistake can be daunting. Yet, we actively encourage a culture where “dumb questions” are welcomed, recognizing that they often pave the way for crucial clarity. This is one way of applying vulnerability in leadership.

When we can move past the fear of being embarrassed and ask “dumb” questions, it usually turns out to be the information needed to move the solution forward—and oftentimes others are wondering the same thing.

3. Shift the Focus from Ego to Partnership

Working with highly intelligent and experienced clients can sometimes trigger feelings of inadequacy.

For us, the key to facing the fear of feeling inferior has been to shift the focus from trying to appear all-knowing to embracing a mindset of continuous learning and genuine partnership. Our value lies in our unique perspective and our ability to facilitate clarity and drive progress, not in having all the answers ourselves.

Sometimes this looks like taking the blame for a failed idea or being the one to take on some grunt work to make sure the client is successful. In turn, this often ends up building trust.

Applying “Getting Naked” Principles to Improve Internal Communication and Collaboration

The principles in Getting Naked don’t just apply to consultants—in fact, they are integral to our internal culture at Visual Logic. We strive to create an environment where open communication is the norm, where team members feel safe to voice concerns, ask questions, and even admit mistakes without fear of negative repercussions.

This internal trust forms a strong foundation for how we engage with our clients. By fostering a culture of transparency within our team, we are better equipped to bring that same openness and honesty to our client relationships.

Whether you’re in leadership, product engineering, or product design, embracing openness and stepping into difficult conversations can drive better outcomes. Consulting isn’t about looking smart—it’s about being real. Vulnerability builds relationships that last.

Listen: Hiring employees with “Getting Naked” skills

Overcoming Fear and Building Trust

The Getting Naked approach isn’t easy, but it’s powerful. If you’re ready to overcome fear, build trust, and create meaningful impact in your work, this episode is for you. And if you’re looking for a team that will work with you in this way, let’s connect.

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