(#33) The All-seeing Eye
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance it is the illusion of knowledge.”
You don’t need to know everything. As a leader, to oversee is not to see it all.
Your hard-earned expertise give you that reassuring feeling of what’s right and what's nonsense. And yet, Trained Incapacity is very much a thing! You might see the nuance of a particular problem, but fail to approach it anew. Your knowledge of a bureaucracy might ring-fence you from the possibilities beyond the red tape. Over time, you'll see the wood so clearly that only a lay person can remind you of where the trees are.
Nowadays, filling the search bar is easier than filling your head. As a leader, you have to be able to point your people in likely direction(s) of the knowledge. You don't bestow it.
Awareness of how little you can possibly know, makes it evermore essential to let your team in on whatever your 'big plans' happen to be. Your vision cannot be yours alone. It’s an incredible feeling to know that you’re part of something bigger than yourself. Gift that feeling to those in your care.
Team members are uplifters, not underlings.
Team members are collaborators, not subordinates.
How can you have more people embrace the feeling of working with you instead of for you?
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