Nobody wants to look incompetent or unskilled in the workplace. Unfortunately, the words we use every day can make us do just that.
There’s one common phrase experts say to avoid if you’re speaking with your boss: “I don’t know.”
“The simple acceptance of not knowing” can make it seem like you’re uninterested in going the extra mile to solve problems, Patrice Lindo, CEO of Career Nomad, a career consulting firm, tells CNBC Make It. Moreover, the phrase doesn’t show “initiative and willingness to learn.”
People usually say “I don’t know” in a variety of scenarios, from expressing disagreement to showing you don’t have the information your boss may be asking for. But even though you genuinely may not know, that shouldn’t be the definitive answer.
Here are some alternatives you should exercise instead, says Lindo.
- Ask for some time to research: Offering to find answers or examples from reputable online resources like studies, reports and articles can show that you’re solution-based.
- Seek clarification: If your boss’s request is out of your wheelhouse, ask them or a knowledgeable colleague to explain further. This can demonstrate the desire to gain knowledge and improve your performance at work.
- Suggest a collaborative approach to find the answer: Getting a team of professionals with unique skills together can help you solve problems quicker and more efficiently than doing it alone.
Business leaders agree with Lindo’s advice. Sixty percent of companies say that the top qualities they look for in employees are current professional knowledge and eagerness to continually search for improvements in productivity, efficiency and profitability, according to a 2012 survey of more than 170 employers.
Even billionaire investor Mark Cuban says employees who make the effort to get things done, even if they aren’t sure exactly how, have a competitive edge.
“The one thing in life you can control is your effort,” Cuban, 64, said in a LinkedIn video post published by entrepreneur and VC investor Randall Kaplan in May. “And being willing to do so is a huge competitive advantage, because most people don’t.”
Putting in effort means going beyond what’s required to solve problems, even when you aren’t asked to — on top of your job’s normal responsibilities, Cuban said. You take the initiative, and exhaust all possible options until you find an answer.
“There’s some people, or employees, that if you tell them to do A, B, and C, they’ll do A, B, and C and not know that D, E, and F exists,” Cuban said. “There [are] others who aren’t very good at details: If you tell them to do A, B, and C, all they want to do is talk about D, E and F.”
His advice for anyone with an “I don’t know” attitude: “Don’t apply for a job with me.”
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