08/22/2019

You Won't Know What You Don't Know Unless You Listen to Diverse Voices

Surround yourself with diversity

Have you ever shouted a warning to an actor in a movie when they’re about to fall unsuspectingly into a trap? The velociraptor hiding in the bushes. A bomb’s red LED clock counting down the seconds. A steel-jawed bear trap waiting to clamp down on an unwary hiker. We cringe in our seats watching a character fall into a preventable predicament -- even if it is fictional.

So, how do we warn people in real life? And what if the person about to fall victim is us? It happens to good leaders every day. Perhaps not as dramatically as that proverbial anvil falling on our head, but still with dire consequences to our personal and professional lives.

Yet, the truth is, we don’t see the trap. We miss the clues. We’re too busy to seek advice or we simply ignore someone telling us, “Hey wait. Watch out!” In short, we don’t know what we don’t know. That’s the story of all too many otherwise competent leaders, strong work teams and thriving companies that plummet, like Wile E. Coyote, right off the towering cliff.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Entrepreneur.