Uploaded April 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The #1 killer of leadership careers is thinking you know everything. So how do you combat that?
Transcript:
Hi there, everybody, Cameron Morrissey here. A little while back, I did a video about the #1 killer of career progression and that is ego and a sense that you know all of the answers. That'll stop careers, because you stop learning. All right, what came out of that in a number of comments and a number of messages I've gotten since then is, "Well, how do you combat that? How do you make sure that you're combating that, because a lot of times we can't see it?" The simple way of doing that isn't exactly obvious, and that is to never be satisfied with the answers that you have. If you are constantly reaching and constantly looking for improvement to your own ideas, to everybody else's ideas, to the operation, if you have that learning mindset that counteracts that arrogance that says you have all of the answers. All right, you cultivate that wherever possible. I'm not talking about perfectionism. I'm talking about that sense of constant learning. How you do that often is you end up exposing yourself to different ideas. If you come up with a great idea that you love, that you think is fantastic, but in the back of your mind you know you aren't satisfied and you're looking for more, then you have to look elsewhere. I like to say that I left high school thinking that I knew everything. I left college knowing that I didn't know a thing. The reason was is I exposed myself in college, or were forced to be exposed, to a whole lot of different ideas. When you have that sense of never being satisfied with the answer and the decisions and the ideas that you have, you have to look elsewhere and you have to expose yourself to different ideas. When you do that, then you realize the value that is out there outside of your own opinions and your own ideas. That's how you fight back that ego. Thanks so much, everybody. Have a good one.
The #1 killer of leadership careers is thinking you know everything. So how do you combat that?
Transcript:
Hi there, everybody, Cameron Morrissey here. A little while back, I did a video about the #1 killer of career progression and that is ego and a sense that you know all of the answers. That'll stop careers, because you stop learning. All right, what came out of that in a number of comments and a number of messages I've gotten since then is, "Well, how do you combat that? How do you make sure that you're combating that, because a lot of times we can't see it?" The simple way of doing that isn't exactly obvious, and that is to never be satisfied with the answers that you have. If you are constantly reaching and constantly looking for improvement to your own ideas, to everybody else's ideas, to the operation, if you have that learning mindset that counteracts that arrogance that says you have all of the answers. All right, you cultivate that wherever possible. I'm not talking about perfectionism. I'm talking about that sense of constant learning. How you do that often is you end up exposing yourself to different ideas. If you come up with a great idea that you love, that you think is fantastic, but in the back of your mind you know you aren't satisfied and you're looking for more, then you have to look elsewhere. I like to say that I left high school thinking that I knew everything. I left college knowing that I didn't know a thing. The reason was is I exposed myself in college, or were forced to be exposed, to a whole lot of different ideas. When you have that sense of never being satisfied with the answer and the decisions and the ideas that you have, you have to look elsewhere and you have to expose yourself to different ideas. When you do that, then you realize the value that is out there outside of your own opinions and your own ideas. That's how you fight back that ego. Thanks so much, everybody. Have a good one.
