Unraveling the secret to success, we delve into the wisdom of Jeff Bezos, the titan of e-commerce. His belief in one paramount quality as the cornerstone of achievement is not only intriguing but also backed by extensive research.
When Jeff Bezos was CEO of Amazon, he stressed intellectual humility
To reach your maximum potential, you need to be willing to learn and improve
- That necessarily entails admitting you don’t already have all the answers
- Jeff Bezos likes hiring those who have tried, failed, and learned from their errors
All the ways intellectual humility helps you get ahead
The intellectually humble give more careful consideration to evidence that contradicts their views, and end up with a better understanding of those they disagree with
- They’re also better at eliciting creative and varied ideas from others
- On the flip side, those low in intellectual humility are more likely to get emotional with those who disagree with them and are rated as unlikable by others
How can we temper our natural human tendency toward overconfidence and nudge ourselves to be a little more humble about the limits of our knowledge?
Jeff Bezos was right
- Intellectual humility might not be the most discussed trait, but research shows it’s an essential precursor to almost any kind of excellence
- Take a deep look at whether you’re as open to new information and ideas as you should be
