Should A Leader Know Everything?
At the 1984 Olympic Games, the Chinese team won the ping-pong gold medal yet again. Curious about their strategy, a reporter asked the team’s coach, “Tell me about your team’s daily training regimen.” He replied, “We practice eight hours a day perfecting our strengths. Here is our philosophy: If you develop your strengths to the maximum, the strength becomes so great it overwhelms the weakness. Our winning player, you see, plays only his forehand. Even though he cannot play backhand–and his competition knows he cannot play backhand–his forehand is so invincible that it cannot be beaten.”
Most people think a leader should know everything, is good at everything, and can do everything. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I would argue that it is the complete opposite. A great leader can’t possibly know everything; they are only good at a few things and certainly don’t do all the work by themselves. The longer people buy into this leadership myth, the more detrimental it is. This type of thinking sets one up for a leadership disaster or, at the very least, burnout. To become a valuable player and leader, exploit your greatest strengths. Don’t try to be everything, be who you are when you’re at your best.
To raise your influence, you need to operate from your strengths. Every moment you spend outside your strength zone is a moment you miss an opportunity to create impact. High-capacity achievers do their best to focus on and improve the areas they are great at.
