Did you ever have to “out” someone who is scamming you? What do you do when you finally see that there are some real jerks in the world taking advantage of you?
When you can finally pull back the curtain, only then can you make the changes that need to be made for progress to occur.
When Dorothy and friends saw the great and powerful Oz was just another scammer she said, “If you are really great and powerful you would keep your promises.”
To which he replied, “I’m really a very good man, just a very bad wizard.”
The moral of this story is that you need to trust yourself, your instincts, and your inner knowledge before putting your trust in someone else.
Since I was named a top 30 global leadership guru for the 7th year in a row I have been getting tons of emails asking for advice. Often, I feel like the famous Wizard of Oz who needs to know all the answers.
I suggest, to all of you reading this to please trust yourself before you start to put your trust into someone else. That doesn’t mean ignore. It means ASK the right questions to see if who you are contacting had the background, ability, and knowledge to help you grow as a leader.
I, for example, have expertise in work and family relationships. I have studied the interactions of people with each other in teams and working virtually. These are great places to ask me for help.
However, when it comes to SEO and social media you need a different kind of authority. And, even when I tell people my expertise is vertical, I get resistance.
I have decided that the world Guru causes most of us to give our power away to anyone out there who claims they have all the answers. Guru and Wizard are merely just labels and it is your responsibility to question the authorities to make sure they have the expertise they claim.
There are too many scam artists in the world who teach a short cut version to success. They say, you don’t have to be an expert, you just have to market smartly.
I say, pick those who have dedicated their lives to digging under the obvious to find the answers to the mysteries of life.
Most important, don’t be swayed by titles, be swayed by wisdom.
Those on the Guru list with me are all seasoned professionals and any one of them (including me) would be capable of helping you uncover the invisible areas of leadership and the hidden rules that guide the way we behave with each other.
Your first task is to ask the right questions before you sign on with someone who may, just may, be hiding behind a curtain of baloney.
