"If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room!" I saw or heard this recently and it led to a great pondering on the implications of this statement.
Likely from our school days when we got a gold star and praised in front of the class for "right" answers most of us like to appear intelligent and learned. The trouble with this of course is a.) that nobody likes a know-it-all and b.) if you're busy seeming smart, you're not asking "dumb" questions (which may hold the key to unlocking all measure of success!)
How teachable are we? I know some people in the real estate field that I never thought would make it because of the vast amount they did not know or seem to understand. But, you know what? The ones that were not afraid to ask questions and were not afraid to ask for help are doing very well indeed!
Who doesn't like being asked for help? Don't you willingly share your ideas and experience when someone genuinely wants help?
Pride can be a very two edged sword. Proud people tend not to ask questions -- especially ones that might sound stupid. Proud people would never consider asking someone with less experience then them how to do something, or for another view on how to succeed.
Floyd Wickman (great veteran real estate trainer) once commented that one of the reasons women sometimes make out better than men when showing a home is that they don't think they have to know everything. A client asks a man, "so what do you think that wire is for?" Most men feel it a measure of their manhood to come up with a plausible explanation for the wire. Most women might rather say, "I'm not too sure, what do YOU think it could be?"
Our answers can either come across as a lesson or the beginning of a conversation. Another example my broker mentioned the other day speaks to this. She heard a trainer mention that rather than say "great or lousy" or launch into a training session when someone merely asks what the market is like try simply saying "it depends." Because it does depend on many things! And because that answer invites a two way conversation!
I'll venture to say that the happiest and most successful people in any profession are the ones who are the most humble about what they know and the most hungry about learning. Learning from anyone about anything; being genuinely curious about how someone is generating more business or their approach to the tasks of the trade...this marks an interesting person to be around!
This take me full circle to Steve Jobs admonition that I have my calendar bring up each and every morning: "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."
And it makes me laugh about another statement on learning my cowboy pal, Wendell Monical, said. "You know Beth, there's something you can learn from everyone...even if it's how not to do something!"
Likely from our school days when we got a gold star and praised in front of the class for "right" answers most of us like to appear intelligent and learned. The trouble with this of course is a.) that nobody likes a know-it-all and b.) if you're busy seeming smart, you're not asking "dumb" questions (which may hold the key to unlocking all measure of success!)
How teachable are we? I know some people in the real estate field that I never thought would make it because of the vast amount they did not know or seem to understand. But, you know what? The ones that were not afraid to ask questions and were not afraid to ask for help are doing very well indeed!
Who doesn't like being asked for help? Don't you willingly share your ideas and experience when someone genuinely wants help?
Pride can be a very two edged sword. Proud people tend not to ask questions -- especially ones that might sound stupid. Proud people would never consider asking someone with less experience then them how to do something, or for another view on how to succeed.
Floyd Wickman (great veteran real estate trainer) once commented that one of the reasons women sometimes make out better than men when showing a home is that they don't think they have to know everything. A client asks a man, "so what do you think that wire is for?" Most men feel it a measure of their manhood to come up with a plausible explanation for the wire. Most women might rather say, "I'm not too sure, what do YOU think it could be?"
Our answers can either come across as a lesson or the beginning of a conversation. Another example my broker mentioned the other day speaks to this. She heard a trainer mention that rather than say "great or lousy" or launch into a training session when someone merely asks what the market is like try simply saying "it depends." Because it does depend on many things! And because that answer invites a two way conversation!
I'll venture to say that the happiest and most successful people in any profession are the ones who are the most humble about what they know and the most hungry about learning. Learning from anyone about anything; being genuinely curious about how someone is generating more business or their approach to the tasks of the trade...this marks an interesting person to be around!
This take me full circle to Steve Jobs admonition that I have my calendar bring up each and every morning: "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."
And it makes me laugh about another statement on learning my cowboy pal, Wendell Monical, said. "You know Beth, there's something you can learn from everyone...even if it's how not to do something!"
No comments:
Post a Comment