What I Admire Most in People
They usually say “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure” or “I think”
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself in 70 years,” wrote Martha Manning on her 70th birthday, “it’s that I’m completely full of shit.”
I absolutely loved reading that. These days, I’ve been finding myself struck by statements of a similar vein. A few more examples: A speaker in a virtual work seminar, upon introducing herself, said she’d be happy to take questions after the session via e-mail. Then, she cautioned: “I may not have all the answers, but I’d be happy to exchange thoughts with you.” In his newsletter, Sasha Chapin wrote about how his second marriage played out and confessed: “The fact that we’ve gotten here, from where we were, makes me more clueless than ever about what makes relationships work.”
Now I know that “I’m completely full of shit”, “I may not have all the answers”, and “I’m clueless” are arguably three different thoughts. But what I see is they’re underpinned by the same thing: they’re admissions of fallibility.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been drawn to people who appear as if they just know. We’ve all come across the type (there are plenty in the corporate world): the ones who can walk into a room and talk like they know exactly what they’re talking about. Like they…
