Mentoring Questions > > Using Ideas Well
Select a Category:
Using Ideas Well
I asked the Senior Vice President of a billion dollar oil company this question: “John, what do you know now that you wish you had known when you got out of school?” Very quickly he said, “Fred, I wish I had had the humility of an open mind.”
Did you ever try to talk to somebody whose mind is closed?
One thing I have found is a common denominator among ambitious people - they are not far away from a paper and pencil (or any of today’s equivalents). Watch for this. Engage a highly energetic, ambitious achiever in a stimulating conversation and suddenly you will see him record an idea that has crossed his mind. He can throw it away later if he doesn’t want it (and smart ones do evaluate and delete bad ones), but if he wants to remember it and hasn’t jotted it down, how can he capture it? Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary has trained thousands of men and women to carry 3 x 5 note cards around to catch “big ideas.”
An outstandingly successful young man I met a short time ago said this to me: “A leader is not the man who has the best ideas; he is the man who uses the best ideas.” In order to do this he must have an open mind, doesn’t he?
I always keep in mind that what a leader knows is not most important; --- I am primarily interested in what he is, because what he is determines how well he will use what he knows.
This week look for an idea that captures your imagination.
