How many of us know people who claim to always have the answer?

It seems that we have lost the art of humility to acknowledge that we don’t know, and feel uncomfortable to be honest about this.

Why is this? My belief is that it is our egos at play that drive us to want to ‘know, look good and be right’.

When I was a leader there were many times when I genuinely did not know the answer and I found that having the humility to be honest about the fact, whilst feeling a little scary, absolutely led to me having more trust and respect from my team than if I had pretended to know.

In fact, I am certain that by me not knowing, and being the opposite of the expert that we all strive to be, I actually enabled more creativity, responsibility, engagement and motivation in my team because my team were given permission to be resourceful and think for themselves.

Making friends with not knowing undoubtedly can be hugely beneficial – give it a go!