Last week, I went on my first road bike ride at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin (COTA), the famous track where the Formula 1 race is held each year.
Which is kind of like a new golfer playing their first round at Augusta National.
I’m guessing I looked funny to the serious cyclist out there.
I hadn’t touched a bike in probably ten years.
I was still figuring out how to switch gears.
I used flat pedals because I do not know how clip-ins work.
All the gear I wore didn’t belong to me. The kit and jersey were hand-me-downs from my friend Casey. I borrowed the bike from my girlfriend’s dad.
I’m pretty proud of this, actually.
Why? Because most people would find this embarrassing.
But I didn’t.
The Real Ones Know This Fact
If you want to learn anything, you have to be humble.
It’s a lesson I learned from my first business mentor, John Underman. He tried to provide feedback after a critical presentation just to hear me challenge him at every point.
Then he looks me in the eye and says, “Ya know, eventually you’ll have to realize that you don’t know everything.” I’ll never forget the seriousness in his eyes.
Maybe it’s a product of youth or being a millennial, but many of us are guilty of thinking we know it all.
The irony is that unless we accept what we don’t know, we’re never going to improve or learn anything worthwhile.
Think About What’s at Stake
In 1961, John F. Kennedy entered the White House overconfident and underexperienced. He decided to stand up to the Soviets and saw an opportunity in Cuba.
We all know what happens next. Kennedy let the CIA pressure him into supporting the Bay of Pigs blunder—a failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro, which humiliated the US on the world stage.
Not the ideal first 100 days. I’m sure he was thinking, “What the heck am I doing?”
Kennedy did something amazing next. He sought the advice of Dwight D. Eisenhower, which must have been a humbling experience.
Eisenhower was old, a leader from a bygone era, and a political rival. Seeking his advice basically told the world he needed help with this job.
But here’s the thing is, Eisenhower was the only person alive who actually had experience dealing with the Russians both as a president and as a general during WWII.
They held a public meeting at Camp Davidson, and Kennedy asked him. “What did I do wrong?”
“You had a consensus in the meeting room among all your generals, right? Eisenhower asked. “But did you ever pull them aside and ask them individually what they thought of the mission?
The answer was no.
Kennedy learned a valuable lesson that day. Maybe the CIA doesn’t know everything, and even the best leaders act irrationally under pressure.
The lesson served him well a year later during the Cuban Missile Crisis when a U-2 spy plane discovered nuclear warheads in Cuba.
Instead of taking the CIA and his general’s opinions at face value, he challenged them and even pushed back. Instead of gut reactions, he bought time for his advisors, the Soviets, and most importantly, himself.
He even called General Eisenhower during the crisis, who helped put the president at ease about his decisions.
Kennedy wisely bought time, which allowed Premier Krushev to consider the situation and reach a deal to remove the missiles from Cuba while allowing everyone to save face.
You Can Learn From Anyone
This doesn’t mean you should only be humble when you’ve already lost or that you should only take advice from older mentors.
You can learn from anyone.
“Everyman is my mentor at some point, and in that, I learn from him.” Emerson wrote.
My writing mentor is my age. Hell, he might be younger than me. The point is, he’s ahead of me. He’s been in the game longer. He’s more connected. He’s already attained the goals I’m trying to reach.
That’s why I learn from him.
If your goal is to get better and avoid costly mistakes, seek help from someone ahead of you. She doesn’t have to be a self-proclaimed guru or a Yoda. She could be your best friend. It could be a book!
Most importantly, be humble and accept that you don’t know everything. Sure, it could be embarrassing at first, but you’ll get over it.
As they say, when the student is ready, the teacher arrives.
Great post. I always tell people about my view as it relates to you point of humbleness.
I am a mentor to other who want to create generational wealth and get their money to work for them and guess what, I have a coach and a mentor.
Yes, I know my stuff in that one area I am mentoring others, but everywhere else lifelong learning will never stop and doing it with others makes it more fun.
Oh my gosh Cal .I loved this. I just listened to a podcast called What Price Glory. The episode was on people who flatter using the ancient philosophers writings. What you wrote about speaks to that with a modern twist-we flatter ourselves and let others tell us what they think we want to hear. It really is so hard to be humble at any age! We seem to go to extremes between thinking we know it all or kicking ourselves unmercifully and missing that sweet spot in between where we can truly learn something new. I knew about the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missal Crisis but not the backstory. Thank you