My manager told me to stop doing something the other day. And you know what? It was easy for me to hear and accept his correction.

It was about an email I sent. I handled the problem at hand, but I should have delivered the result differently. My manager addressed that later with an email, short and sweet.

Now I’ve had the emotional wind knocked out of me in the name of “correction” before. But this time different. This was calm and easy to swallow.

But why? What made this correction a positive experience?

• For one, I was being corrected — not scolded! There’s a big difference. Corrections are respectful and helpful. Scoldings are demeaning and frustrating. Do this poorly enough, and the receiver’s spirit may break.
• For two, the feedback was timely. It wasn’t pouncing upon weakness the moment it appeared, but it wasn’t digging up ancient failures, either. The incident was still fresh.
• For three, it was direct. It addressed the problem in two sentences. It got right to the point in a factual, impersonal way.
• For four, it was fair. I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t appreciate a response appropriate to the action. Not a reaction, but a response. A fair response gets me every time, and I have no complaints when the punishment (or correction) fits the crime (or mistake).
• For five, it provided an alternative method. This is important! It’s easy to goad someone for doing something the wrong way. But it is much harder to fully understand the problem and suggest a better solution to the problem at hand. The proposed solution clicked and made perfect sense. I will solve the problem that way from now on. It wasn’t a huge lightbulb moment, but perhaps a Christmas light.
• For six, it was constructive and beneficial. This was not a snide comment meant to pull me down or justify someone’s authority. It was a small change to improve the quality of the work from the manager’s perspective, as well as my own. Heeding this constructive feedback benefited me.

I’m no expert at confronting others about mistakes or problems, but I do know this went well. Experiences like this help me see how important it is to build others up in the small encounters of life.

This is how I want to lead.

Want to make yourself the smartest guy in the room? Even if you’re not that awesome of a leader normally?

Just find the weakest, dumbest people around and hire them to work in the positions nearest you…

…and voila — suddenly you’re a genius! Not that you weren’t already a genius, of course.

Luckily, the employees I hired for their weakness and stupidity were also the first people I interviewed. (That was incredibly efficient of me — a trademark of a good leader! How convenient.)

How Does This Work?

Just a minute — how does this strategy make you seem like the smartest guy and the most excellent leader?

I’m so glad I asked.

1. You are the Smartest by Comparison

Start by hiring the dumbest employees you can. With a bunch of dimwits all around, even a flashlight with dead batteries seems bright! Use comparison to your advantage, and your awesomeness will stand out more.

2. Employees Defer to You

How could anyone speak up against you when they’re weak-willed, insecure, and slow? How could your underlings do anything but agree with you and defer to your amazing wisdom?

It’s great to have a handful of infeariors as minions who support your every decision. Every idea is a great one, because they aren’t going to come up with anything better. It’s like I’m playing the computer game Lemmings all over again!

3. No Competition

You will have no trouble defending your title. No one will challenge your throne, or annoy you with competition. Even if one of your feeble-minded underlings did attempt to usurp your power, you will be able to squash him easily. And if you’re too busy to have all that fun by yourself, you could always just write them up and send them to HR!

This last point should be a big relief for all of you leaders who are just a bit insecure. To clarify, I’m definitely not, but I’m sure some of you might struggle with insecurity.

Now go surround yourself with the dimmest bulbs you can find so your light seems blinding!

Comparatively the Smartest,
W. Albert Jameson, IV

Why is it so hard to hire people smarter than you? What are the benefits?

Let’s take a quick quiz to find out if you are an inferior.

• Do you ever get petrified of upsetting others, to the point you’ll sneak around and walk on eggshells for years and never ask for a raise?
• Do you often cower and talk softly, with your shoulders slumped?
• Do you find yourself wishing you could say what you are thinking at work?

This blog is for those who lord over those inferiors who answered yes!

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you are surely an infearior.

No, it’s not spelled wrong — but I applaud your gall bordering on defiance. It’s an Albertism I coined myself!

If you answered yes, you should just go away now. I would tell you to go prepare your résumé in hopes you’ll get a new job, but let’s face it. You’re not making any progress in life, so why keep trying?

Back to the topic. According to the first search result, an inferior is “lower than another in rank, status, or ability.” (Source: Internet)

Hmmm. That’s not nearly strong enough of a definition for how I use it… So I had to take it one step further.

Thus, an infearior is an inferior completely overwhelmed by worry, self-doubt, insecurity, and fear. And what are my infeariors afraid of?

Superiors like us, of course.

But whatever infeariors are, though, I’m glad they exist — so I can be superior in comparison!

Superiorly,
W. Albert Jameson, IV

Are your team members anxious around you? What are the long term results of creating an insecure team?

The vast majority of people are not fit to take care of themselves. Thus, we overlings have stepped forward to lead and take care of these foolish underlings. Since they obviously can’t handle things on their own, of course.

But I guess we need underlings, in a sense. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be anyone for us to be overlings over, would there?

This is why I am so thankful for people who stink at life and need my infinite wisdom and guidance. It’s a great feeling knowing that everyone can look up to me and learn sheer awesomeness. They need me to be their leader, whether they like me or not.

According to the first result I found in Google, an overling is:

• A noun
• A superior
• A ruler
• Master

Overlings are at the top of everything — their careers, their earning potential, the office building, and the org charts of course! Now that I think about it, they also get the upper hand in negotiations due to years of practice and numbed feelings.

Sometimes it is kind of a drag being an overling, though, as there is so much stupidity and so little time to impart greatness. Sigh.

Overall,
W. Albert Jameson, IV

Think of someone who was a good leader to you. What made them good at leading?

I read an article about how important it is to set annual goals. It sounded good to me, so I forced my underlings to make some this year.

The article mentioned how it’s important to be specific about your goals, I think. At least, that’s what I told my employees. It said some other good stuff, too.

Long story short, I now require each employee to submit a list of annual goals for themselves before the start of each new year. I have a stack of their printed annual goals on my desk, but that’s only because I haven’t asked my secretary to put them in the filing cabinet.

And by the filing cabinet, I mean the closet. However, it will be a long, rainy, boring day before I dig them out.

I’m not sure why the annual goals are important, though, because it’s not like we’re going to go over them a year from now. That’s like expecting the president to review the goals from last year’s “State of the Union” address — that’s just not how it works!

Annually,
W. Albert Jameson, IV

What is a goal you need to write down? Comment about it…. and then go write it down somewhere you will see it often!