Pride of Knowledge

I had only been at my new job for a month or two and I was sitting in the backseat of a four-door sedan. Up front sat my boss who has been with the organization for 30+ years and his peer who had been with it for 7 years or so. We were driving through town after getting something to eat on our way back to work. Though I hadn't worked very long at this new job, I was pretty familiar with the town, having visited there many times. We came to a stop light where there were four lanes on our side of the road. I knew in my head that the far right lane, which we were in, was going to need to merge to the left shortly after the light that we were about to go through. Then, from the backseat driver position, I did something that I absolutely despise, yet, I did it anyway. I called out in a bit of a condescending tone "You know this lane ends up here so you're going to have to get over."I know... it sounds silly. I was just giving a simple instruction so what's the big deal? Here it is: I just told two people who had lived in the town much longer than me how to drive, where to go, what to do and how I knew it better than them in one simple sentence. Yikes!

If you're like me, you like to be right. But have you ever heard of this saying? "You can be right or you can be DEAD right." Having knowledge about a circumstance, situation or topic is wonderful! How you use that knowledge is a crafted skill that many take years to master. And... when they think they have it mastered, that is the moment that they should realize they really don't.

It doesn't always work this way, but my experience has helped me see that there are many times when my opinion or even my knowledge isn't helpful. And on the other side of the token, there are many times when I should absolutely speak up and offer up what I have learned. Being able to delineate between those situations will help any leader be more effective, clear and to be honest, well-liked by those that they encounter regularly.