How often do you say these words? Do you say them out loud? Do you say them silently because you are afraid to be judged by NOT KNOWING what to do or what next steps to take?
Has (not) admitting that you do not know something gotten you further into a bigger problem?
Teach thy tongue to say, “I don’t know,” and thous shalt progress.”
Maimonides
According the INC.com “if you regularly use these 5 words you’re-a better leader than you think”.
But wait a second you might be thinking “I don’t know” is 3 words. So, what are the five words?
Is it the addition of the words “please” and “thank you”?
No, because then that would be 6 words.
It’s the 5 words that follow a foil if you didn’t say “I don’t know” in the first place. If you had just said “I don’t know” you could avoid having to say these 5 words all together. But that’s not the point.
The point is to be able to say these 5 words and understand what the effect is on the listener. Take it from this Brooklyn-born bad ass, you know the one, and only RBG…”Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
You want others to join you as you lead?
Then you won’t have the answer to everything. The road to success and being a leader is not perfect, nor can it be. Perfection = no room for growth, no opportunity to say “I am sorry, I was wrong” << and there they are! They snuck up on us! Those are the 5 “little” words!
It was/is way easier to sneak them into this post than to say and accept the responsibility for your wrong-ness. You might even want to PRACTICE saying “I am sorry, I was wrong” this way it is easier to be comfortable being uncomfortable. The greatest opportunity for growth does come from being uncomfortable. Uncomfortable moments, situations, may help to challenge you/your perspective, thinking and behavior for the benefit for all, even of you don’t see it in the moment – you will “get by with a little help from your friends”, talking it out with peers, trying to understand yourself more and others is what is takes to be leader.