“I Don’t Know” Might Just Be the 3 Best Words in Leadership

With a big ‘hat tip’ to the excellent author & speaker Simon Sinek, this attribution from him is both insightful and brilliant.

In this blog, I want to challenge conventional thinking around hubris, humility and life-long learning.

Why do young children so openly and willingly admit when they don’t know something?

Something happens to us as teenagers and young adults, where we become reluctant to volunteer when we don’t know something.

It gets drilled out of us.

Beyond these formative years, the unwillingness to admit we don’t know something often becomes a default position in conversations, meetings and interpersonal interactions.

Of course, the only way of learning and adopting new information is to say three simple words.

‘I don’t know’.

By eliminating ego and hubris, we can demonstrate vulnerability in admitting we simply don’t know.

Admitting we don’t know something fosters curiosity and contributes to the adoption of life-long learning.

It shows a human-side and great humility.

As a Manager and Leader, demonstrating this regularly in front of the team will likely invite others to be vulnerable and reduce the anxiety around feeling the need to have all the answers.

Adopting this openness together is likely to lead to greater collaboration, teamwork and collective intelligence.

Start this as a Leader and request your management team adopt this from the top down.

Openly share when you don’t know something and celebrate the individual or team who provides you with the answer. Acknowledge and thank them publicly within the business.

Beyond demonstrating this as a senior management team, give individuals and teams permission to openly admit when they don’t know.

The tactic here is to create a culture where it is OK not to know the answer, but you must at least come to the discussion with a potential list of answers or solutions based on potential scenarios.

The parties to the conversation can then cycle through these scenarios and case studies, providing important facts and perspective that will likely lead to an answer.

From the frontline team to the top, this approach will create a team that is fearless, engaged and empowered to find the right answer together.

A counter-intuitive approach to knowledge, without hubris or ego, breaks down barriers and can lead to building amazing culture within the business.

‘I don’t know’ might just be the 3 best words in Leadership.

 

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