WHAT DO I KNOW?
September 1, 2023
I must be candid about how I feel about writing these monthly blogs. Each month I ask myself why anyone would care about what I am thinking or take the time to read my posts. To my amazement, our associates who do social media and website analytics report that thousands of people take the time to check out what we are posting. Maybe they want to see what might be considered as my dumb, foolish words for pure entertainment or they might just be interested in some old-fashioned dinosaur common sense. So here I go one more time, sharing something that is heartfelt for me. Like most things I share, I stole this idea from people who are smarter and more articulate than me.
Three words I am going to share with you are discussed in the book entitled “The Ideal Team Player” by Patrick Lencioni. Here are the three key words:
HUMBLE: Great partners and spouses lack excessive egos or concerns about status. According to the author, truly humble people do not see themselves as greater than they are, but neither do they discount their talents and contributions.
HUNGER: Hungry people are always looking for more. More assignments, more opportunities to grow and to learn. Hungry people don’t need to be told to do things because they are self-motivated and diligent. Hungry people are always thinking about the next step and the next opportunity. A word of caution is that it is important that hungry people maintain balance in all aspects of their lives. Take it from someone who knows so well the positives and negatives of hunger and need for the proper balance in life.
SMART: This smart has nothing to do with intellectual capacity! This smart refers to a person’s common sense about people. It is all about having the ability to be interpersonally appropriate and aware. Smart people know how to meet individual and group needs and concerns in the spirit of a common cause. This smart is important in dealing with the dynamics of families, teams and individuals.
We all have some of these characteristics, but none of us are perfect. It’s important that we do some soul searching and honestly determine if any of the three words describe us or our strengths or weaknesses. If you don’t have all three, you are not alone but to improve there is work to be done.
The most critical characteristic is probably HUMBLE. If you’re perfect in your own mind, then your ego makes it real hard, if not impossible, to reach your full potential. For me, E.G.O. stands for Edging God Out! If you think about it, a person who is not humble is sometimes hard for people to trust. Often people just don’t want to be around someone with a big ego.
Without HUNGER you will not realize your full potential in life. Without hunger one will not be fully engaged in uncomfortable things like holding oneself and others accountable and having the warrior spirit that is often needed to make a positive difference. It’s so much easier to take the path of least resistance and go with the flow, which will put you on the road to mediocrity. There is truth in the saying “No pain, no gain.”
Last of all, a person who is not SMART will never reach his or her full potential in relationships and can in fact become a cancer that impacts what would otherwise be a positive environment. The “Saturday Night Live” skit with “Debbie Downer” comes to mind.
According to one of my favorite books, entitled “The Leadership Lessons of Jesus” by authors Bob Briner and Ray Pritchard, “those who are given responsibility and knowledge should use it productively, after which they should be given more. If a person does not use what he has, then even this should be taken from him.” The book also states that “Jesus repeatedly taught that it is not how much we have that counts, but what we do with what we have. Leaders must help followers understand this principle and hold them accountable to it.”
After all my babbling, I come back to my constant thought when I write a blog: “What do I know?” My solid answer is that “with God and through God, all things are possible.” Take it from a flunky who refuses to quit! God bless you and yours!
Written by KING AEROSPACE Founder, Jerry Allan King-Echevarria.