Saturday, February 3rd, 2007...11:56 am

Don’t Pretend You are Perfect

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Lead-Across principle #7 in John C. Maxwell’s Book The 360° Leader is to not try to convince others that you are perfect.  Your credibility as a leader, in large part, depends on how transparent you are with those around you.  If you are trying to get ahead by convincing your peers that you are the expert on everything, let me enlighten you with two things…

  1. People see your weaknesses, whether you want to admit them or not.
  2. People do not trust other people who hide their weaknesses for gain.

Anyone who has worked in an office with more than 5 people has either done this, or experienced it in others.  In the end, you will convince no one.

How do we remain “real” in a competitive environment?

  1. Admit your faults
  2. Ask for advice
  3. Worry less about what others think
  4. Be open to learning from others
  5. Put away pride and pretense

Maxwell expands these thoughts in the book.  Again, I recommend buying the book and reading for the full writeup.

2 Comments

Filed under GTD

2 Comments

  • Wolfgang
    February 4th, 2007 at 1:22 am

    I think this is a very important principle in life and not only applicable for people in leading positions.

    If you think you have to do your things perfectly most of them never get done. Either you are afraid that you can not do them perfectly and never start, or you are tweaking the things and they get never finished.

    I had (and still have) the problem myself when I started GTD.

    -Wolfgang

  • Jason Echols
    February 4th, 2007 at 1:40 pm

    Good point, Wolfgang. Thanks for the comment.

    This principle does bleed over into productivity as well.

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