Who Needs to Know?!

I walk into my home and see my lovely bride, Deb, smiling. “Hey, Baby,” she says. “Hey, Baby,” I reply, “How are you?” We go on, asking the usual questions about each other’s day, how it went, what we did, etc. Then we get to a critical part of the conversation.

“You know,” Deb says, “I was talking with Lori today.” Lori was married to one of my colleagues. “Oh?” I asked, “what about?” “Well, we were just chatting when she mentioned something about you guys being gone for Thanksgiving.”

I was on active duty when this occurred. I was assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe Band at the time, stationed in Germany. One of the coolest things we did in that band, and I take at least partial credit for creating the concept, was that we deployed a big show we called Seasons’ Greetings to locations where our troops were. We had great success with those shows because we brought in artists from the US and did a big production for our troops and their families, similar to a USO show. I’d had this great idea of playing for the troops (no families there) stationed in Bosnia for Thanksgiving Day! I’m sure you’re saying, “What a GREAT idea!” Everyone I’d talked with said the same thing, “What a GREAT idea!” With one exception….

“Lori told you we’d be gone for Thanksgiving?” I asked Deb, trying to sound as if…okay, the OC Factor kicked in. “Oh, Crap!” was all I could think of. In my zeal to get the show together and make it a great event for the troops, I’d forgotten, no kidding, I’d just forgotten, to tell the most important person in my life what I was up to and that it would affect her and the girls since I wouldn’t be there for Thanksgiving dinner.

Here’s the point. Remember that old saying, “Information is power?” That’s stupid! Information is just information. It won’t get up and do anything powerful! It’ll just sit there, sometimes in your brain, and do absolutely nothing! Imagine being the smartest person in the world and no one knowing it? What good would that be? SHARED information, APPLIED information is power.?

Sometimes people who call themselves leaders think that keeping information from followers is power. That’s REALLY stupid! When we empower others with the information we have it makes us ALL more powerful and it builds trust.?

If you’re looking to be effective, whether it’s at work or at home, ask a critical question often, “Who needs to know?” Don’t you make decisions based on the information you have at hand? Well, imagine having all the information you need! Where would THAT come from? If you have people keeping you informed, then you’re liable to make better decisions. And the law of reciprocity says that when you inform others, they, in turn, inform you. You get what you give.

If you’re wondering what ever happened that Thanksgiving, we did do the tour. In fact, there’s another story I’ll consider sharing with you about a very cool thing that happened on that tour. But not here. Deb and the girls understood my purpose and they supported me being gone that Thanksgiving. And I’m almost done paying for that BMW I had to buy Deb to make up for it. It’s a very nice car, I must say. SHARED information, APPLIED information is power.?

Until next time, Be GREAT! You ARE!

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