Having Answers

One day a colleague who worked on the help desk at my office asked me a question and I suggested he check a setting. After he finished the call he spoke up and said, “Whenever I ask you something you always have the right answer. You’ve never given me a wrong answer. How do you do it?” I replied, “If I don’t know the answer, I keep my effing mouth shut.”

That’s how I have approached my career and my entire life and I would say it was one of the biggest factors in building my reputation. One of my greatest fears has always been that if I provided a wrong answer and it affected someone else negatively. I always knew this about myself and noticed how sometimes other people just did not share that concern.

While taking this approach certainly helped build and protect my reputation, I sometimes wonder if it slowed me down or hampered my success. It meant less risk taking and risks sometimes yield rewards. Much of this anxiety I have carried also boils down to integrity. My favorite movie is The Insider. Integrity is paramount to me when it comes to knowing who to trust.