I was talking with a couple of audience members before a speaking engagement recently. One of them said she didn’t see herself as a good leader because there were parts of the organization she didn’t clearly understand. Another person agreed and said that she too didn’t know everything she thought she should. These two were displaying one of the traits of good leadership: admitting they didn’t know everything.
Leaders can be tempted to claim knowledge they really don’t have, or to be coy and pretend they understand that which they don’t. After all, leadership implies strength and a lack of knowledge implies weakness, right?
That’s only half right. Leadership does imply a certain level of strength. Leaders must have the inner strength necessary to cope with the demands of the job. But, a lack of knowledge doesn’t imply weakness. What is a weakness is failure to admit to a lack of knowledge.
From my first experience leading teams, it has always been very obvious to me that I’m never the smartest guy in the room. No matter how much I knew about any particular operation or organization, there was always something I didn’t know. Even if I did know a lot about a particular issue, there was usually someone who knew more, or was aware of some angle that I had missed.
There are three types of knowledge you should be aware of as a leader.
- That which you know.
- That which you know you don’t know.
- That which you don’t know you don’t know.
The first is good, but probably not as big a category as you’d like. A good leader will maintain a level of personal humility relating to this category.
The second is where you need to rely on others to help you. You can’t know everything and when you admit to those gaps in your knowledge, you’re more likely to get help from your team. When you aren’t willing to admit there are things you don’t know, you’re only fooling yourself. Your team will quickly determine your knowledge gaps. They’ll respect you’re admission of such gaps but they’ll quickly take you for a fool if you try to hide them.
The third category is truly your blind spot. There will always be things you aren’t aware of. Your team will either be aware of these things or will discover them as they go. If you have not established credibility in admitting what you don’t know, they may not share this information with you, but rather let you discover it on your own; usually when it’s too late to save yourself.
Do you know what you don’t know? Your team probably does!
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
