Maybe You Are Not Above Average
You may have heard radio personality Garrison Keillor talk about his fictitious hometown of Lake Wobegon, MN where "all the children are above average.
" Knowing professionals like I do, few would call themselves great or excellent at anything.
Most of us are simply too modest, at least publicly.
However, the vast majority of us would claim to be above average.
What do studies reveal? Exactly that, that is, people don't see themselves as "average," but rather above average.
Daniel Gilbert, in his book, Stumbling on Happiness cites research to that affect.
One research team concluded: "Most of us appear to believe that we are more athletic, intelligent, organized, ethical, logical, interesting, fair-minded, and healthy-not to mention more attractive-than the average person.
" To reiterate, notice that "most of us" don't consider ourselves as "superior" or "best," but we certainly see ourselves as above average.
So what? So that kind of erroneous thinking can enable us to accept mediocrity in some knowledge and skill areas, and thus stifle our personal growth and our ability to earn career security.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, consider some ideas on how to avoid being blind-sided by your unknown weaknesses and your undetected below average performance: o The next time you speak to an audience, unobtrusively place an audio recorder on the podium or near you and record all or some of your presentation.
Later, listen carefully.
You might be surprised.
The recording could be a gold mine of possible improvements.
o Just finished managing a project? Ask the client to suggest one way you could have done a better job.
If you get more than one idea, view that as a bonus and make the necessary improvements.
o Occasionally arrange for a reality check on your effectiveness, especially your communication ability.
You're not operating in a vacuum.
Many and varied individuals have first-hand knowledge of your abilities.
Perhaps human resources personnel in your organization can facilitate an anonymous 360 degree feedback.
Look for strengths-celebrate.
Note weaknesses and fix them! Sometimes we are the last to know about our weaknesses-the below average aspects of our performance.
For example, I was involved in a project during which I facilitated meetings with a group of high-level state personnel.
One of those personnel always used male pronouns-regardless of who was present.
Avoid that kind of trap by proactively seeking input.
" Knowing professionals like I do, few would call themselves great or excellent at anything.
Most of us are simply too modest, at least publicly.
However, the vast majority of us would claim to be above average.
What do studies reveal? Exactly that, that is, people don't see themselves as "average," but rather above average.
Daniel Gilbert, in his book, Stumbling on Happiness cites research to that affect.
One research team concluded: "Most of us appear to believe that we are more athletic, intelligent, organized, ethical, logical, interesting, fair-minded, and healthy-not to mention more attractive-than the average person.
" To reiterate, notice that "most of us" don't consider ourselves as "superior" or "best," but we certainly see ourselves as above average.
So what? So that kind of erroneous thinking can enable us to accept mediocrity in some knowledge and skill areas, and thus stifle our personal growth and our ability to earn career security.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, consider some ideas on how to avoid being blind-sided by your unknown weaknesses and your undetected below average performance: o The next time you speak to an audience, unobtrusively place an audio recorder on the podium or near you and record all or some of your presentation.
Later, listen carefully.
You might be surprised.
The recording could be a gold mine of possible improvements.
o Just finished managing a project? Ask the client to suggest one way you could have done a better job.
If you get more than one idea, view that as a bonus and make the necessary improvements.
o Occasionally arrange for a reality check on your effectiveness, especially your communication ability.
You're not operating in a vacuum.
Many and varied individuals have first-hand knowledge of your abilities.
Perhaps human resources personnel in your organization can facilitate an anonymous 360 degree feedback.
Look for strengths-celebrate.
Note weaknesses and fix them! Sometimes we are the last to know about our weaknesses-the below average aspects of our performance.
For example, I was involved in a project during which I facilitated meetings with a group of high-level state personnel.
One of those personnel always used male pronouns-regardless of who was present.
Avoid that kind of trap by proactively seeking input.
