Comments on: The 7 Most Important Words Any Leader Can Hear (or Say)

By: 7 Most Important Words Any Leader Can Hear or Say | Professional Service Journal

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:35:47 +0000

[...] Don’t know the answer to a question? by Terry Starbucker, Starbucker.com [...]

By: The Seven Most Important Words Any Leader Can Hear or Say : Professional Service Journal

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:30:22 +0000

[...] I don’t know, but I’ll find out by Terry Starbucker – TerryStarbucker.com [...]

By: Jeff Hurt

Jeff Hurt — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:16:33 +0000

I’d like to offer a spin on your seven words.

Instead of “I don’t know but I can find out,” I suggest, “I don’t know and I can find out.”

Let’s omit that “but” in the sentence and make it more positive.

By: Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:51:17 +0000

I loved Christina’s lessons learned – “So I learned: 1) Serve others, even if it makes more work, and 2) A good leader keeps learning… even from the low-level employees.” Leaders that serve realize unparalleled results.

Your six words “I admit I made a mistake” also teach a key skill to all in the org. — how to give an authentic apology. In my work, I am coaching and teaching these types of skills and SO many people in the business are poor at this. The typical “I am sorry *if I caused you any ….” The *if neutralizes the value of what is being said and the listener often sees it as passive aggressive.
Thanks for your six words and the lesson it teaches!
Kate Nasser

By: Techgirl

Techgirl — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:33:14 +0000

Interestingly enough there was an interview today on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” show with an author of a book called “7″. It was all about orienting your life around this number to create harmony and maintain organization. I don’t know the author’s name (but I can find out). She pointed out all the different ways that our lives are already oriented around the number 7, seven days in a week, seven digits in a phone number (before zip codes came along), seven wonders of the world, etc. It is funny that I just listened to that this morning and now here it is popping up write in front of me to apply to leadership.

Incidentally, customers also appreciate hearing these 7 words. Actually they expect “I’ll find out” to follow “I don’t know” and if it doesn’t, they’ll likely either not return or they’ll want to speak to a manager. “I don’t know” is a dead end. “I’ll find out” indicates resourcefulness. “Let’s find out” which another reader suggested, invites collaboration and that, of course, is way more fun!

By: Ron Wand

Ron Wand — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:09:16 +0000

Everybody talks about the obvious: “Nobody knows everything…”.

The most important characteristic of a leader has been always how resourceful he/she is. That is a inherent recognition of his/her own limitations.

By: Lando

Lando — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:55:31 +0000

There is a 100% failure rate on every shot not taken.
-Wayne Gretzky

By: CustServ: Customer Relations: The New Competitive Edge

CustServ: Customer Relations: The New Competitive Edge — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:41:51 +0000

[...] to check on Terry’s blog (for I haven’t done so in a long time). As always, I found a good nugget of information there. Terry shared a link of a video which tells about human relations and [...]

By: links for 2009-12-08 « innovations in higher education

links for 2009-12-08 « innovations in higher education — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:02:57 +0000

[...] The 7 most important words any leader can hear or say (tags: managing leadership realism) [...]

By: Gil Brady

Gil Brady — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:05:24 +0000

I think the one word that should be changed is the second “I”,

A leader needs to be able say “I don’t know” and then invite mutual learning.

“I don’t know, let’s find out” is an opportunity for the other person to develop. When a leader says, “I don’t know, but I will find out”, it continues to foster dependency on the formal leader. This dependency is a reason that many companies do not have a comfort level with their leadership pipeline.