22/09/2017
JUST A LITTLE INSIGHT MAY BE NEEDED!
IS BEING TOO HONEST A SIGN OF LOW INTELLIGENCE
I got a job interview when I needed it the most. I was however late for it by 35 minutes. The interview started off in the following manner.
Interviewer: Do you know that you are late?
Me : Yes.
Interviewer: Why are you late?
Me : I woke up late and skipped taking a shower so I could get here.
The interviewer responded with a hearty laughter.
The rest of interview went as usual. I got the job even though my qualifications weren't an exact match.
At the end I was told by the interviewer, who later became my boss, that he was very impressed by my honest answer. He said I had the choice of saying anything to shrug off the responsibility of being not on time but I did not.
He said leadership positions are more about being honest than about hiding one’s mistake.
In my case, being honest and not afraid to admit my mistakes to a total stranger and a potential future employer, turned out to be a very fruitful decision.
Sometimes being dishonest (more like being politically correct) is also a sign of high intelligence.
There was once a lion king who loved to hear praises about himself. One day he was told by a duck dentist that he had bad breath. He asked a goat, “Do you think I have bad breath? ” Goat said, “Yes, you do have bad breath”. Lion king killed the goat for telling him the truth that he didn't want to hear.
He then asked the bull the same question and the bull replied “No, you do not have bad breath.” Lion king killed the bull for being a liar.
He then proceeded to ask the fox the same question. Fox responded, “My dear King of the jungle. I cannot answer this question because both my nostrils are blocked as I have a cold.”
The fox was saved!
Edit 07/18/2017
Honesty is very easy and sometimes life-saving if we decide to practice it on daily basis. I heard the following true story from Simon. One of the Marine corps officers was late for some meeting. Generally, Marines are never late, very punctual & respectful of their’s and other’s time. He was asked, “How come you are late?” He said that I had to fire one of our OCS marine corp candidate from the training.
Why?
Because he fell asleep on watch at the woods of Virginia. Really ! that’s it. You guys are tough. He said, “No you don’t understand, we asked him about it and he denied, when we asked him about it again he again denied it. Only when we gave him irrefutable proof”, he said, “I want to take the responsibility for my actions.”
The officer said the rule we have here is to take the responsibility of your action before you perform your actions, not after you get caught. We have another marine who also fell asleep on watch but when we asked him. He admitted it and he only got punishment.
He explained further that I can not put this marine into a leadership position where he is responsible for the lives of other marines. Because if they are in a combat situation and his marines doubt for one second that the words coming out of his mouth are anything but the truth. If they believe for a second that the words he is speaking are only to make himself look better or cover his own ass, the trust will break down in the whole group and people will die.
