I KNOW IT ALL?

I spent a lot of years working with a person who felt because he was an executive/vice president of the company he should never let anyone know that he might not have the answer to a particular problem they might be having. He would rather give them the wrong answer than to admit he didn't have the right answer. The problem with that kind of thinking is you are fooling only yourself. The people that work with you are perceptive and will pick up on your lack of knowledge very quickly and the word gets around that you don't know what you are talking about.

Many business owners and managers fall into the "know it all" trap. As we gain expertise and experience in the industry we suddenly realize we know quite a bit of "stuff". We are becoming an expert in this business and frankly we need to in order to best serve our customers and prospects. The industry is changing so rapidly that it is imperative that we are always learning and studying.

Let me tell a couple of stories on myself. When propane buffers were first introduced to the marketplace, one of the manufacturers asked if my company would test one of the models for them. Since we were cleaning retail stores at the time I saw it as an opportunity to cut some of our labor costs. 

When the machine arrived I took it to the store to spend the night with our crew and to "show" them how the boss did floors. When I started  the machine, there was some black smoke coming out of the exhaust which one of my employees quickly said he could adjust very easily and in a short amount of time. My answer was that it is a new machine and after I run it awhile it will be fine and the black smoke did subside.

So I started down the aisle and just as I was passing ladies ready to wear, and just as if the machine was give a cue, a trail of black smoke came bellowing out of the machine and created ladies short suits out of what had been ladies polyester pant suits. My employees tried not to laugh. I encouraged them to laugh and enjoy the moment as I adjusted the machine as they had suggested in the first place. I thought it best then to ask someone else to run the machine. They didn't want to. 

Try explaining to your customer and the insurance company this chain of events especially when the insurance adjuster, who was so diplomatic, asked what idiot caused this disaster? I really didn't want to tell him but honesty prevailed and I told him I was the idiot and I really wish he could have used different words to describe my lack of intelligence on operating propane floor machines. 

On another occasion I was trying to demonstrate to a crew the correct way to remove spots from carpets. As I was offering my expertise, the area supervisor who was there to oversee my lack of intelligence, said, "Dick, let me have the spotter" and Marie proceeded to demonstrate the correct way to use the product. Being quick in my thinking I told the crew I just wanted to see if anyone would catch me doing it wrong. Pretty good, huh?. Another case where the boss didn't know it all and should have turned it over to the expert in the first place.

The point I am making here is that people around us catch on fast when we try try to BS them. They figure it out quickly when we don't know what we are talking about and we rapidly lose their respect. 

The two examples I gave on myself above taught me a great lesson in my career---YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING, JUST KNOW THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW. The sooner you learn that and practice it, the quicker you can move on to leading your company to greater success. You don't know it all. 

Reminds me of a scene from the TV series "Law and Order".  Assistant District Attorney, Jack McCoy was questioning a suspect and the suspect said to Jack, "Are you trying to make me look like an idiot?" and Jack's reply was, "You're doing a great job of that yourself". Let's make sure we don't fall into the same trap. 

So, do you know it all?

Till next time. MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.