As I was saying yesterday, I’m learning so much through what I’m reading right now…I LOVE THAT!! As I was doing some extra reading this AM before heading to the office I came across an amazing excerpt in “Creating Magic.”
Immediately I wanted to twitter it, but I knew that neither the 140 characters, nor the quickness of twitter would do for this. So, I’m putting it here…
“The best decision I (Lee) made in that job was to move my office next to the executive chef’s (Lee was the “assistant food & beverage controller”). His name was Peter Kleiser, and he was a true teacher who treated everyone with respect.
Once when planning a banquet for 3000 guests, I ordered crensaw melons instead of honeydews. Instead of reprimanding me or firin me, Peter said, “Lee, you can be a fool once or a fool all your life. When you don’t know something, ask questions. Then you’ll be a fool only once.”
His point: Good leaders are humber enough to admit what they don’t know and great leaders are constantly looking for new information.
Looking back I realized why Peter put our office windows so we could see the kitchen: That way, the staff and I cuold get to know each other intimately, and I could constantly learn new things from observing what they were doing. I might have been their boss, but I still had plenty to learn from them…
…Both my new position and marriage helped me learn another important lesson: Your authority–or what you think is your authority–is nothing without good relationship skills…you can’t resolve conflicts or differences in opinion if your relationship isn’t grounded in mutual respect & trust.”
Encase you are wondering…what’s your point? Here it is…
- We should all ask more questions
- We are called to be humble learners…not experts
- We must understand the importance of relationships & practice it constantly
- Our job title, name or status wont’ earn us respect, nor will our knowledge
Again, just what I’m learning! What are you learning? 