My secretary walked into my office one day to tell me she thought I should consider joining Mensa. Mensa is a society of very smart people who have achieved very high scores on their IQ test. I was flattered but a bit taken back by her statement. I decided to play along and see what would happen so I asked about the requirements to join. She told me that I would need a certain IQ score (never going to happen) and to be sponsored by a current member.
Then she dropped the bomb. She told me she would be happy to sponsor me.
My secretary just told me she was smarter than me. And I have no doubt that was true.
Leaders must be willing to admit they are not the smartest people in the room. In fact, if you think you are smarter than your team members you’re in trouble. Either your ego is out of control or you need to take a serious look at your team. You must accept that, in most cases, your workers are better at something, more informed about something, or just plain smarter than you?
In most cases some, if not all, your workers will probably know more than you do about the job, the company, or just life in general. If you are a good leader you’ll understand, accept, and learn to embrace that fact. If not, you’ll probably adopt the attitude that you are the smartest person in the room or you wouldn’t be the boss. Then you will fail, probably rapidly.
It is a common argument that a team’s leader must be an expert in the organization’s product or service. While such knowledge is certainly helpful, there are a few pros and cons. A leader with such expertise will understand what the organization is doing and how it’s done. Without that experience and knowledge the leader will have to spend considerable energy learning and will never reach the level of expertise the workers have. On the other hand, the leader who is experienced with the company and the product or service will be less likely to be aware of underlying problems and potential improvements that his less experienced counterpart will see more clearly.
Unfortunately, many leaders seem to have a problem deferring to a worker’s superior knowledge of a subject as though doing so will diminish them in the eyes of the rest of the organization. In fact, workers usually think much more favorably of a leader who is willing to admit to a lack of knowledge. However; and this is key, that leader must also be willing to work to fix that knowledge deficit.
A leader who thinks he or she must be the smartest person in the room often misses out on good suggestions from their people because their misplaced self-esteem blinds them to what others have to offer. Good leaders cultivate others and encourage their thoughts and ideas.
A leader’s inability to accept worker’s superior knowledge is usually a sign of insecurity that will tend to isolate them from their workers, the very people who can make them successful. Workers are much less likely to bring problems to an insecure leader and so little problems will fester until they grow up to be big problems. At the same time, good ideas will fade away for the same reason. This is usually when a leader says something like “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Leaders don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, but it does help if they are the most self-aware and secure in who they are.
Bob Mason is dedicated to leadership development. He works with companies to solve problems by helping supervisors and managers become more effective leaders leading more productive teams. He is a professional speaker and author of Don’t Worry, You Can Do This: What New Supervisors and Managers Need to Know About Leadership; The Art of Not Motivating: How Leaders Can Succeed by Understanding the True Nature of Motivation; Balancing the Generations: A Leader’s Guide to the Complex, Multi-Generational, 21st Century Workplace; and Planning to Excel: Strategic Planning That Works.
A 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force exposed him to great leaders and leadership opportunities such as command of four squadrons, including the Air Force’s largest munitions squadron. He has studied leadership extensively, but more importantly has been there, working with real people, making hard decisions, and experiencing the results.
Contact Bob at Bob@BobMasonSpeaker.com or 505-453-5266
