Foolish overconfidence causes leaders to forget that sometimes we’re wrong. So, learn from experience, but also carry along a healthy degree of skepticism.
The Precept Explained
Ok, but what if you’re wrong?
And, why are you so overly self-confident?
Remember, once before under these circumstances the outcome wasn’t in your favor!
Actually, these are common questions.
Sometimes We’re Wrong!
Unfortunately, the foolishly overconfident are unwilling to consider any outcome other than what they expect.
Also, unfortunately, no amount of arrogance, blaming, anger, bending the rules, or power abuse can overcome the likely outcome.
And, according to Proverbs 18.2 paraphrased above, root cause for this condition is a self-consumed character. How so? Well, the hardheaded refuse to learn from experience.
Now, don’t be that leader! Instead, be a learner and be willing to change.
But, how did the leader get here? Well, often through earlier successes. As such, see Ezekiel 28.3-9 for the outcome of letting success go to your head.
With your wisdom and insight you’ve gotten very wealthy but also very proud. Ezekiel 28.4-5 paraphrase
Experiential Insight
Experiential insight is my ability to learn from experiences. Then, I change my behavior accordingly.
Now, experiential insight is a great teacher, until it isn’t!
Why? Because what worked in the past doesn’t guarantee the same outcome the next time. So, don’t get overconfident.
I must temper human insight with a clear understanding of all relevant conditions around me.
Leadership Insight
When was the last time you witnessed unbridled arrogance. Plus, a total lack of experiential insight?
Without much thought, you can probably remember leaders of failed financial services firms during the 2008 meltdown. As expected, the outcome for stakeholders wasn’t good.
But, we were all convinced that the price of a single-family home could never drop! Guess what? That human insight was widespread, but it was wrong.
More recently, false beliefs related to the spread of a worldwide virus have had equally disastrous results.
What This Means
1). So, one take-away is that being convinced I’m right doesn’t protect me from being wrong.
2). Another take-away is that human insight can be good. However, it’s not perfect. In fact, sometimes we’re wrong!
Hence, impactful leaders learn how to moderate their experiential insight by accounting for down-side risks from unexpected circumstances.
Apply This Today!
The foolishly overconfident are convinced they’re never wrong.
Worse yet, the foolishly overconfident don’t learn from experiences.
One cure for foolish overconfidence is to find a way to reduce my self-consumption.
Don’t forget to ask: “What are we missing that could go wrong here?”
Thanks for visiting. Also, please contact me if you have comments: larrydaleyoung@gmail.com
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